


Working Late

by PancakeGod



Category: FNAF, Five Night's at Freddy's - Fandom
Genre: BB, Bonnie - Freeform, Chica - Freeform, F/M, Female Reader, Female reader insert, Five Night's at Freddy's 3 - Freeform, Five Night's at freddy's 2, Five Nights at Freddy's - Freeform, Five Nights at Freddy's 4, Foxy - Freeform, Freddy Fazbear - Freeform, Horror, Jeremy Fitzgerald - Freeform, M/M, Mangle - Freeform, Mike Schmidt - Freeform, Multi, Romance, Shipping, Toy Bonnie - Freeform, Vincent - Freeform, fnaf - Freeform, pairing - Freeform, phone guy - Freeform, puppet, purple guy - Freeform, toy chica - Freeform, toy freddy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-04-15 07:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4597545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PancakeGod/pseuds/PancakeGod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting the job was easy. Doing it, not so much. Learning that the animatronic's move, your first night at the pizzeria is utter mayhem. Between co-workers, who are forced to spend what could possibly be their final hours together, a few fights break out, arguments occur, truths uncovered and several tears are shed. All of you believing this is your last night alive, you decide to make the most of it. That's why you find yourself sitting in a small room with a nervous teenager, a grumpy adult, a purple creep, an overly clever nerd and a guy with a phone for his head, trying to keep positive in a place where death is just around the corner. (Or in this case, just up the corridor) </p><p>(Chapters will be updated frequently)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Leafing through a newspaper was not how you planned to spend your Saturday morning. Especially since it was 8:00am and it was the first day of the weekend. And Saturday was your favourite day of the week, too.  
'I don't care.' your mother shrugged, sitting you at the table and dropping a newspaper in front of you. 'Come on now, y/n. Please cooperate with me. You can't just sit in all day, and do nothing.'  
'I do a lot!' you protested, feeling a little hurt. You washed the dishes, got your little sister ready for school, swept the floors, mopped them and hoovered. You made everyone's bed each day and where in charge of making the meals that everyone eats around here (Okay, maybe you ordered take out every so often. But so?)  
Your mother sighed, and rested a hand on her forehead, her arms folded. 'Okay. That was unfair of me. Sorry, y/n. But you need to get a job, sweetheart. You see... I know I'm not here a lot because I work overtime. But that's going to be stopping soon.' your mother's voice caught in her throat, and you looked up. For the first time in a while, your busy and bossy mother looked like a scared little girl again.  
'What?' you panicked, feeling your heart begin to thump. You hated it when she was like this. It was almost as bad as her being so strict.  
Heavily, your mother took a seat opposite you. For a while she hid her face in her hands. Eventually she raised her head, lowered her hands and met your eyes. Sighing, she gave the news. 'I'm being made redundant, y/n. Of course, I'm getting paid for it, obviously I am. But we can't just strive on that money alone. I need to look for work. So for now,' she took your hands in hers. 'Only for a while... I need you to help. Financially.'  
Sighing, you took your mother's hands back, and held them tightly. You thought about this. To be honest, you felt ever so annoyed. Was being the babysitter, maid and freaking cook not good enough for her? Then you felt a pang, and guilt crept up on you. You were not being fair.  
Pulling away from her gently, you opened up the paper and flicked to the Jobwise page and scanned the list up and down. Nothing looked very appealing. Janitor was a reoccurring word. So was street cleaner. The bar tending ad caught your attention, but you knew your mother would not approve. And Not to mention it was rubbishly paid. You turned the page over, and the first thing that caught your eye was at the top left of the page.  
Night Guard Needed  
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza is currently on the hunt for new night guards. One more space is open toward anyone who is curious. Not for the faint of heart, easily scarred and emotionally weak. Please ring the following number, or turn up at the following address and ask for Mike Schmidt.  
'What about this, mum?' you quizzed her, pushing the paper towards her. She read over the ad, and bit her lip. Oh crap. She was wavering. If you didn't convince her, you'd end up picking up rubbish on the street. Or worse.  
'Look, it's the best paying one so far. And not to mention it should be safe. I'll be indoors, and with whoever else works there. Plus, it's super close! Just down the street and round the corner! No main roads! Should we ring in?' you were desperately trying to worm your way around her. She looked up at you and tilted her head to one side.  
'Night guard? Honey, are you sure about this?' your mother said doubtfully. She was about to turn the page over, when you decided to act fast.  
'Yep! It's 12am till 6am, and then I could be home to do all the stuff around the house!'  
'Y/n... we'll have to think about this, carefully okay? Night guard can be a dangerous job, and...'  
But you somehow managed to convince her. Feeling a sense of triumph, your mother went to the house and dialled the number to ask about the job. Sitting at the table, you drummed your fingers on the desk, suddenly feeling pretty excited. I mean, how cool did night guard sound? Sure, it was at a kiddy's place, but nobody at school needed to know that. Straining your ears, you tried to hear what your mother was saying.  
'Hello... yes hi, I'm enquiring about the night guard job... for my daughter, haha... can I speak to Mike Schmidt, please... oh, that's you. Yes... yes... no, haha... come down tonight... of course she can... you don't need any CV's or anything... oh yes, I see, short staffing is a problem - no, haha I don't blame you. Yes, it is a shame isn't it... what time does she need to get there for...? Yes... okay, thank you Mr Schmidt! Bye... bye!'  
The sound of the phone being placed back down made you cock your head towards your mother eagerly. She turned around to face you, smiling a little. 'Yep. Just go along tonight, y/n. They're very short staffed see, and take anything they can get.'  
'So I'm hired?' you said, slightly surprised but not about to complain. Can they even hire you just off the bat? Well, clearly they could.  
'Yes. Mike - he seems nice - said to bring something warm, maybe a flask of something hot and to make sure your well rested.' your mother told you. Nodding you jumped up from the table and decided to go upstairs and relax in your bed for the rest of day - with the computer and the Netflix Channel, of course. Hopefully, this might also let you convince your mother you need a lot of rest.  
Sauntering past your mother, you grabbed the family laptop and were about to bound upstairs, when your mother called out to you. 'Oh, and he said could you buy some AA+ batteries?'  
* * * *  
'Thank you, and have a nice evening.' the bored teenager said behind the counter, as he handed you your change and a pack of batteries. It was 11:30pm, and you'd stopped off at the convenience store on the way to your first shift of your new job. Grabbing the batteries, you headed for the door and stepped back outside into the fresh cold night.  
Frosty air nipped at your cheeks and caught in the back of your throat. You huddled up inside of your coat and tugged the scarf further around your neck. Pocketing the batteries, you began to walk down the street.  
It was eerily silent. A few cars drove carefully by every now and then creating a humming noise, but the street was still. Trees and hedges whispered and rustled every so often, as the wind gently blew between them.  
It had been raining earlier that day, and the pavement was slightly damp and bit shiny, due to the full moon which was glowing bright in the sky reflecting off the floor. Stars were in small clusters in the night sky. Houses were lit up, still showing signs of life, whilst others where blackened and hidden away from the world. Peaceful was how to describe it.  
Turning the corner, you saw the pizzeria looming just across the road. A shiver went down your spine and momentarily the peacefulness was corrupted. The building seemed to disrupt the night in a way you couldn't quite put your finger on. Empty and deserted, the car park seemed naked as street-lights flickered weakly, on the verge of going out.  
The actual building itself was what you found disturbing; usually, it was lit up in the day, but now it was all off and seemingly made it's errors stick out more. Cracks where evident in the building along with moss crawling up it's side slowly. The mascots decorated the front of the building, but as you crossed the road they almost appeared to be glaring at you. Nails were hanging loose, and you were worried one day they would fall out and cause the signs to fall and crush somebody.  
Without the light of the day, you thought it made the building look like something to be avoided.  
Eventually, after a little convincing yourself, you actually went inside the entrance of the car-park and walked across it. Seemingly longer at night than in the day, you shivered a little and picked up the pace, afraid someone was behind you. Resisting the urge to turn around, you almost ran to the front doors. Panting slightly, you reached them, and were about to go charging in, when a figure blocked your path.  
'Eeep!' you and the figure exclaimed both at once. You put your hands over your mouth and the other figure bent his head down and studied the ground. You removed your hands, and peered closer at this figure.  
Which happened to be a boy. A little taller than you, you were level with his shoulders which were heaving up and down like a boat at sea. You couldn't see much, apart from the fact that he was of slim build and had brown hair, which appeared floppy and soft. It fell forward strand by strand whilst his head was bent. He was wearing an oversized cream jumper with black trousers and black shoes. Eventually, he caught his breath and lifted his head up.  
This action nearly made you scream again, but you managed to swallow it back down. This was because the first thing that caught your eye was the fact that instead of eyes, he had a big black question mark on his face. You studied it for a long time, and your mind was running wild with questions about how it happened. But maybe he didn't want to discuss it. And how rude would you sound asking straight away?  
He seemed a very shy and nervous boy, a couple years older than you. As if searching for safety, his hands went into his pockets and his arms locked, straight and stiff. His mouth, which appeared gentle and soft with caring lips, not too full and not too thin. Freckles dotted around his nose, as if each one was carefully placed.  
'I'm so sorry,' he said quietly, and looking genuinely bad about what had happened. A pale pink shade spread out over his face, so he ducked his head again. 'I knew that you were coming... but it's quarter to twelve, and I was worried that you wouldn't make it on time. And, I scared you...'  
Such a gentle voice, you immediately thought. And his personality seemed to match. Looking at him in a slight awe, and decided to try and make a newer better impression. He didn't really scare you - you'd scared yourself.  
'I'm sorry for screaming,' you began carefully. 'And, I'm sorry if I'm late, but I got batteries. Mike said to. And you didn't scare me, I was scaring myself actually.' you laughed a little, tying to lighten the mood and a small smile twitched at the boy's lips.  
'I'm Jeremy, anyway. Jeremy Fitzgerald,' he added. He tugged his hand out of his pocket, and held it towards you shyly. Wow. Shaking your hand. Such a gentleman, you had to admit.  
Taking it, you shook his hand and smiled at him 'I'm Y/N L/N.' you told him. 'Nice to meet you!'  
Releasing his hand, there was a moment of awkwardness. But you quickly decided to make small and talk and fill the space. 'So, you're a night guard, too?'  
Jeremy nodded, and then held the door open for you, indicating for you to enter the building. You quietly thanked him, and you walked inside, locking the door after you. You took one look and froze in terror.  
It looked absolutely petrifying. Compared to the busy day life, this place was empty and abandoned. Children's drawing's and posters adorned the walls, but they now looked... freaky, more than anything. Light leapt in through windows, and highlighted only some places of the pizzeria, but the rest was in complete darkness. Glancing around the room, you saw the stage. Three large figures were stood upon it, but you couldn't make out what was actually there. Probably for the best actually.  
'Yeah,' he said softly. Reaching into his pocket, he swiftly pulled a torch out and clicked it on. Pointing it toward a hallway, he beckoned you to follow him. Doing so, you decided to keep your eyes on the back of Jeremy. If you saw anything else which freaked you, you'd be screwed for the night. 'Actually... Mike didn't say much about you. We didn't even know you were a girl!'  
'Really?' you said, slightly distracted. 'Why not?'  
'Well, first of all, Mike's never been that good at going into detail. But he's a good guy,' Jeremy said the last bit defensively. 'He's like a dad,' he added slightly nervously. 'You know, looking out for me and stuff. Fatherly things.'  
'Must be comforting in a place like this,' you said to Jeremy and he laughed a little.  
'It is, actually.'  
As you turned the final corner, you saw a long corridor with a circle of light at the end of it, like some kind of fire. Jeremy seemed as relieved as you to see that light. 'And this is the office, y/n. Get ready to meet everyone,' he grinned as he led you down it.  
Following him, you wondered who would be waiting for you in the office. You were very glad other people were with you, actually.  
This place was not to be faced alone.


	2. Chapter Two

'I'm back!' Jeremy called out as he walked into the room. You stood shyly at the door, surveying everything and everybody in the room.  
Three other people filled the room. They were all so different, you had to blink a couple times to make sure you were seeing things correctly.  
The first thing that caught your eye was a man who was sitting aloofly in the swivel seat, with his legs up and on the table and downing what looked like a cup of coffee. He clocked Jeremy and nodded towards him, as a way of saying hello. Jeremy nodded and waved a little, before going to sit down next to the vent. The next thing the man saw was you. He choked on his coffee, quickly swung his legs off the table and tried to act like he hadn't been doing anything at all. He kicked a phone of it's receiver accidentally and scrambled to put it back on.  
'Jeremy!' he barked, slightly annoyed. 'Could've mentioned the new night guard was with you!' he groaned and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. 'I must look so unprofessional.' he opened them again and smiled at you weakly. 'Apologies...? Oh, I never got your name! What is it?'  
'Y/n,' you said, stifling a giggle.  
'Y/n, I'm Mike.' he nodded at you in a friendly fashion and you smiled back. 'You've met Jeremy, I see. The one in the glasses is called Fritz, and -'  
Suddenly a purple blur ran up beside you, and swung an arm around you. The scent of lavender hit your nose and your breathed in deeply. This persons arm was warm, and carefully closed around you. You looked to your left, and saw a purple man, with a low messy ponytail. He had very strong jawline, and white eyes that almost seemed to glow. He appeared to have no pupils inside his actual eyes, making them seem empty, hollow and slightly callous. He was what your friends might call attractive.  
Mike sighed and face-palmed.  
'Hellooo,' he said playfully, winking at you. 'I'm Vincent.' he tore his gaze from you and looked at Mike, faking annoyance. 'Could've said that the new night guard was a girl! Would've made a bit more of an effort. With my style and stuff, y'know.'  
'I don't think we could bear you to make more of an effort.' Mike mumbled into his hands. Dragging his hands down his face, and sighed loudly. 'That's Vincent, as you've just been told. Just ignore him, y/n. Vincent! Stop that!'  
'Stop what?' he said innocently. He'd been making eyes at you, and pulling you slightly closer. You felt very awkward and you began to blush a little.  
'For gods' sake, let go of the poor kid.' he ordered. Vincent shrugged, and moved away from you. His hand snaked back round your shoulder and he held up his hands. He stepped aside from you, smiling at Mike like he'd just done something good.  
'Move away. And check the flash-light.' Mike ordered. Vincent rolled his eyes and tutted, beginning to storm off to the other side of the room. Mike closely followed him, as if he didn't fully trust him. When Vincent was safely occupied with his job, Mike turned back to you rolling his eyes and shaking his head.  
'Don't go near him,' he mouthed to you, and then he beckoned you with his hand. You walked towards his desk and leaned in. 'If he bothers you, you tell me right away. I don't trust him.' You frowned slightly, and questions began popping up in your head. Why didn't he trust him? To be fair, his behaviour was certainly questionable. Instead, you nodded obediently and Mike rolled his eyes.  
Raising his voice, Mike addressed you. 'Okay, y/n. Go and help Jeremy with the vents, and give Fritz a hand with the music box. I'll explain to you what you need to do in a bit.'  
'So she can go near Jeremiah and Fries, but not me?' Vincent pretended to be offended. He doubled up and held a hand to his chest. 'My poor aching heart.' he said whilst pouting.  
'You'll have a poor aching face if you don't shut up!' Mike yelled back, turning to the purple man and raising a fist. Vincent stayed silent, but grinned coyly at you before returning to what he was doing.  
Ignoring the gesture, you walked over towards the two boys who were busy with work. They were sat down, cross legged like children at school. A grin escaped your face, thinking that they looked almost sweet in such a child-like stance. Jeremy was searching the vents and checking if the lights worked (which were some reason inside the vents). Fritz was bent over a box, studying it but he looked when he noticed you approaching.  
Fritz blinked at you behind his specs, but smiled at you. He was quite large, and had much more freckles than Jeremy since they were all over his face, but his where a were orange instead of light brown. Oversized circular glasses covered his face, but his red hair was slightly frizzy and fell over the top of his forehead. It was like a mop hairstyle.  
Sitting down with them, and peered at the music box Fritz was clutching. 'What's this?' you asked curiously, tilting your head.  
'O-Oh, it's the music box.' Fritz explained. He spoke down his nose, making him sound like he had a cold. 'See, we have to keep it wound up, else...' he swallowed nervously and glanced over to Mike.  
'Does she know, Mike?' he called out. The man in his mid thirties span round to face the ginger boy. Meeting your gaze, Mike looked at you a little apologetically and sighed. He sat back in his swivel seat and rubbed his head.  
'Nope.' he answered shortly and shamefacedly. 'But, Scott'll get here soon. He can explain. He can break it lighter than we can.'  
As if on cue, the noise of footsteps thumping on the corridor reached your ears. You titled your head toward the door, and saw a very tall man come into view. He was wearing a white shirt with a tie and his trousers were black along with shoes.. But the weird thing about this man was that - he had an old telephone set on his head.  
Leaning on the door, he raised a hand with a pointed finger. 'Sorry,' he gasped. 'I'm late! Car... wouldn't start... had to... run...'  
His voice was friendly, and it sounded like he was speaking to you on the phone. His white shirt which he wore had badge on the side of it. Despite the fact he had a telephone for his head, his skin was normal and not made of plastic. You just kind of stared at him, not sure whether it was just some kind of costume or an actually part of his body.  
Glancing around the room, he looked at everyone and then he saw you. He raised his arms in delight. 'Oh! Someone new! Hello, my name is Scott, and I promise, I'm usually on time. And you are?' he asked politely.  
'Hi Scott,' you smiled at him. 'I'm y/n.'  
'Nice to meet you,' he said a little more composed. His breath had come back to him, and he was walking over to you with an outstretched hand. Reaching your own arm out you took his hand and shook it. 'Y/n. I've got a niece called y/n,' he said thoughtfully and distractedly, but then he coughed and stood up straighter. 'How's everything going, Mike?'  
'All good, Scott,' Mike called over from the desk. Swivelling round to face the man he nodded approvingly. 'Everything seems to be in reasonable order, nothing is broken and everything is working. I got Jeremy here to make sure everything was charged up from the previous week, and he did just that.'  
'Great,' Scott nodded, clasping his hands and rubbing them together. Then he looked at you and laughed a little awkwardly. Nerves suddenly seemed to take hold of him, since he seemed to be glancing round the room, searching for something which wasn't here.  
'So... y/n...' he said, and then he swallowed. 'I suppose... nobody has taken the job of actually explaining about...' he waved his hands dramatically in a circular motion, as if he was trying to encourage someone to give him a word to use.  
'Catch?' Fritz suggested.  
'Okay, not what I had in mind, but we'll roll with it. Okay, y/n, there's a little something we - well, I've got to break to you. Now, you probably won't believe me when I say this, and I really do not blame you, but you there's something I've got to tell you... about this pizzeria.'  
'What?' you said, alarmed. Your mind traced back to everything creepy you'd seen so far in the pizzeria. Panic was evident in your face. Scott quickly saw your expression change and he hurriedly tried to calm you.  
'Now, it's nothing to be afraid of -'  
Vincent snorted from the corner. Mike glared at him.  
'But... the, uh... animatronics - you know who I mean, am I right?'  
'Yeah,' you nodded nervously. 'The bear, the duck and the bunny you mean. The mascots of this place right? I've always been a bit sceptical of them. Just seem kinda creepy, you know?'  
Vincent sucked in his breath through his teeth and made a low quiet noise that you would make if someone got into trouble. 'You're gonna love them now, kid.'  
'Chicken.' Scott corrected gently. He hesitated. 'Well... thing is, at night, they sort of roam about, you you have to be careful. Because, this is something to do with the programming; they were never really given a proper night mode, so uh, they wander around the building at night. Now, that might not sound so bad but I was told something about the robots seeing you as an endoskeleton without its costume on, and wanting to stuff you into a suit on first night here. And... that theory has proven to be true.'  
Oh my god. Your mouth has just swung open, your jaw nearly touching the floor. When did your body start shaking? Trying to ask questions about this whole thing, you try and get your tongue to cooperate, but it has abandoned you. No words exit your mouth and you feel like you can't talk. Hairs stand up on your back and you notice your breathing has become a lot heavier than it was thirty seconds ago. 'Nobody decided to mention this to me!' you screamed, and you realise that your vision is becoming incredibly swimmy.  
'But don't worry!' Scott said quickly, trying to calm you down. He reached over to the side for something, but his grasp came back empty. Quickly, he delved into a box and began scrabbling around for something.  
'Smooth, Scott, smooth.' Vincent said sarcastically from the other side of the room. 'Jesus, someone get her a glass of water or something. Or several. Though you probably don't want to drink too much, bathroom is closed until 6am,' he added. You didn't know whether he was trying to make you laugh or genuinely warning you that you shouldn't drink too much.  
'Wait - no, ahah!' Scott pulled a mask out from the box and carefully placed it on top of your head. 'You can put it on any time, and leave it on for as long as you want.' he said, demonstrating by flicking the mask up and down on your head. He lifted it back up and continued. 'Eventually anything that wandered in, will wander back out, okay? Anything else?Oh yeah. Check the lights, put on the Freddy head if you need to...uh keep the music box wound up. Piece of cake!' Scott said brightly.  
What? WHAT?  
'Uh, Scott?' Jeremy said gently. 'I think you've scared her a little. I um... I got some hot chocolate for tonight... but...' Jeremy quickly delved into a light brown backpack which lay in the corner of the room. After a bit rustling, he pulled a flask out triumphantly. 'It's meant to uh... be good for shock, or something.'  
Soon, Jeremy had poured you a cup and he held it under your nose. Shaking, you took it absent mindedly. Fritz took you shoulders and guided you to a box which you could sit on. Taking a seat you lifted the drink to your mouth and took a sip. Jeremy was right. The sugar dissolved on your tongue and a sweet sensation filled your mouth as you swallowed the warm, smooth, liquid.  
'...I'm okay.' you whispered, draining the cup and then putting it down on the side. Finally, you regained your breath and seemed to be calming down, getting your senses back. 'I'm sorry. I'm just - a little bit -'  
'Freaked?' Mike implied the word for you and nodded. 'Don't blame you really. But don't sweat it, yeah? Now there's more of us, there's nothing to worry about. We've been here years, and Fritz has been here for eight months, so we are pretty skilled at keeping alive. You'll pick it up soon enough, y/n.'  
'Ok.' you said. I mean, your mind was failing you slightly. You were in position to string a sentence together now, and you had gathered you senses and calmed down a little.  
'Great. Now, another five minutes and... they'll start roaming.' Mike said tactfully, careful in case you'd start having another mini freak out session. Nodding weakly, you decided to quickly pull yourself together. Standing up, you decided to see if there was anything you could do.  
'Need me for anything?' you asked, half hoping he'd say no.  
'Um... okay, you can go on the vents with Jeremy for now. If I need anything, I'll holler. Just follow instructions and do as your told and you won't die. You'll see 6am before you know it.'  
Before I know it, you thought walking over to Jeremy. You sat down next to him and he smiled wryly at you wringing his hands slightly. He was probably just as nervous as you. Even so, everyone was starting to walk over to their little jobs.  
Fritz took the music box.  
Vincent crouched by the other vent.  
Scott grabbed the flash light.  
Mike picked up the little tablet which was connected to camera's around the pizzeria.  
'Okay gang.' Mike chuckled a little. 'You all ready for midnight?'


	3. Chapter Three

Silence cast over the room. It was one minute to midnight. Even though everyone had claimed to done this job too many times to count, you noted that everyone still seemed on edge. Nervous coughs and sniffs filled the room every few seconds and Fritz appeared to be wringing his hands. You edged up next to Jeremy, causing him to tense.  
'Are you scared?' you whispered quietly to Jeremy, who nodded quickly.   
'I'm terrified!' he whispered back, louder. 'I hate doing the vents, but I've got really good hearing so it looks like I've been lumped with it whether I like it or not!'  
'Oh.' you said, and you wondered whether he could even see. I mean, he had a question mark instead of eyes. Were all his other senses really strong or something? You pondered over this before Jeremy answered your mental questions by coincidence.  
'I can see, though,' he said, gesturing towards where his eyes should've been. 'But... when it first happened, I could only see blurs. So I ended up having to listen out for everything, and feel everything. I mean, it's not really done my other senses any better - but my ears have really improved, for some reason.'  
'But you can see now?' you said carefully and gently. Your voice was filled with amazement, and you were worried this would offend him.  
'Oh yes,' Jeremy said, suddenly relaxing beside you. 'I can see perfectly fine now. In fact, before this happened I had to wear glasses, and my sight was rubbish to begin with but now I twenty-twenty vision. How cool is that?'  
'Wow.' you whispered, awestruck at the boy. He smiled a little modestly and shrugged his shoulders. 'That's really good vision.' you thought for conversation. 'How bad was your vision before?'  
'Terrible. I mean -' he waved a hand in front of your face. 'I couldn't even see that.'  
'That's bad vision then,' you said. 'Not being able to see something that close. So, you were long sighted right? I'm actually short sighted, and should really wear glasses but -'  
'Jeremy, y/n. Come on, focus. Discuss glasses and whatnot later, but we've got ten seconds till midnight,' Scott whispered, but he didn't sound cross. In fact, he sounded a little pleased for some reason.   
Jeremy tensed again, and so did you. But this time you managed to compose yourself. No panic attacks, you told yourself fiercely. They can't focus on you and the animatronics. Full attention must be on the robot, else... shuddering you pushed all the mental images from your mind. You won't die. These guys know the drift.  
A little alarm clock in the corner beeped, signalling the start of midnight and a new day. Mike flicked the camera's over to the main stage which you saw before. He sucked in his breath, and then laughed ever so slightly. 'Bonnie's already out. Most active he's been in three weeks. Usually takes the little monster a while to get going.'  
'Where is he?' Vincent asked, studying the inside of the vent.   
'Party room,' Mike muttered. 'He'll probably stay there for a while now. But don't let your guard down. Little sneaky fucker, he is.' Mike muttered, and you heard the noise of him flicking him back to the main camera.   
'You sure about that?' Vincent said, with a little edge to his voice. 'Because that one time -'  
'Yeah. Now shut your yap and keep lookout,' Mike snapped impatiently. He flicked through the rooms, almost appearing bored. 'I'm going to try and track Bonnie,' Mike called out.  
Silence filled the room again, this time with a slight atmosphere on top of it. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted the purple man giving Mike daggers. Those white slits of his narrowed eyes sent shivers down your spine. Eventually, Vincent turned back around, but he was muttering violent curse words and threats which were clearly aimed at Mike.  
Sidling closer to Jeremy, you whispered to him. 'What's with all the fuss between Vincent and Mike? They seem to hate each other.'  
Jeremy watched the vent for three seconds after you'd finished speaking. Then he turned to face you, with a slightly awkward look on his face, seeming like a deer caught in the headlights. Glancing over at both Mike and Vincent, Jeremy made sure nobody was looking. He sighed and leaned in closer to you. 'It's... a funny situation, y/n...' he said quietly. His breath was warm against your ear. 'Something about his tone seemed off. 'It happened a good year ago now, but Vincent hasn't been able to let go.'  
'Let go of what?' you persisted curiously. 'Why? Did something happen?'  
'Y/n,' Jeremy suddenly seemed very distressed. 'Please can it wait? I don't wanna... you know... get put...' he said, and he sought for the right word which wouldn't frighten anybody, and yet implied what he was getting at. 'I need to listen.' he said desperately.  
Feeling slightly guilty you nodded understandingly. 'Sorry. I'll stop talking now.'  
Jeremy said nothing, but smiled at you gratefully. He moved away, taking his warmth with him. He returned the vent, and stayed looking at it, and listening intently. Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed when he was concentrating, you noted. Grinning at this little quirk of his, you tried to listen out as well, in order to help Jeremy.   
Everything was going pretty smoothly for a while. Mike checked the camera's religiously, commenting on whatever activity he felt we needed to know about. Scott had nothing in the hall way yet. Apart from a few daggers shot at certain co-workers, nothing was going too wrong. Scott double checked the batteries in his flash-light and was tapping the walls with his fingers, seeming a bit fed up. Jeremy stayed alert, watching the vent as if it might grow legs and walk away from him. Fritz kept the music box under control, winding it up every thirty seconds to make sure there was no chance of it waking up whatever monster lay inside it. Organized, you thought, impressed.  
'Jeremy, Vincent!' Mike suddenly yelled, and Jeremy jumped to attention.   
'Ye-yes?' he squeaked.  
'I can't see the freaking chicken! Check your vent now!' he ordered, reaching for his Freddy mask and ramming it on his head.   
'All clear here,' Vincent hollered, flicking his light on and off. 'No yellow bird inside any vent of mine.'  
Jeremy reached for the light switch above his vent - but paused mid way and cocked his head curiously. Lowering his hand slightly, it ws clear he was concentrating fiercely on something or other. All at once, his face paled.  
'She's coming in through mine!' he yelped, and he lunged for mask and stuffed it on his head, crawling away from the vent. Scrambling after him, you grabbed the mask, when suddenly the lights began to flicker and a banging noise became present in the room. It was becoming louder.  
Instincts kicked in causing you to thrust the mask over your head. You raced over to where Jeremy was sitting on the backs of his knees, cowering away from the vent. For some reason, you ran and sat beside him, right up next to him. Jeremy didn't seem to tense - but relax a little feeling your presence.   
Peeking through the eye holes you noticed the room had been almost pitch black.   
However, a figure had just crawled in and had stiffly gotten up from a crawling position. It stood up stiffly, mechanics whirring at every move. The head of whatever was stood there began to search the room slowly. As the head turned, it's neck seemed to be clicking like a roller coaster going up a hill before plummeting to a deep drop.  
Clamping your lips shut you were straining yourself to make sure you wouldn't even breathe too loudly. But it was impossible to stop your body shaking violently. Terrified you were going to give yourself away, your heart was pounding against your chest. It was a surprise the monster in the room didn't hear it.   
Then something warm brushed against your own hand and closed around it gently but firmly. It held your hand safely and securely - and the the quivering ceased a little, but not completely. Feeling your heart slowing, you grasped it back not evening thinking about it.   
Eventually, the thing turned around noisily and clunked back into the vent, climbing through it. The lights flickered back on after ten seconds of painful waiting, but nobody took their masks off. So you kept yours on. But then Jeremy spoke into the silence.  
'She's, uh gone now.'  
A sigh of relief filled the room, and everyone took their masks off.  
'She stayed for ages, that time,' Fritz said, putting his mask down and winding the music box up.  
'Yeah...' Mike said, seeming slightly puzzled and on edge. 'They are certainly lively tonight. But then again, they've been dead for about three weeks. We've never had one appear in the room this early. It's only what? Half twelve?' shaking his head, he picked up the tablet and studied it. 'They're certainly ready to play tonight.'  
You listened carefully to what was being said. What did he mean, more active? Typical too. On your first night.  
Deciding to try and not let it bother you, you went to reach up to take your mask off - remembering you hand was still intertwined. Looking down, you suddenly felt very embarrassed and ashamed. You were clutching Jeremy's hand! Why didn't it cross your mind.  
Pulling away quickly and shyly, you tugged your mask off over your head, coughing a little. Jeremy took his own mask off, a lot more collected than you. But when you eventually got yours off, you blinked in the sudden brightness of the room.  
Then Vincent sniggered from the corner. 'Ooh, someone's gone all blushy and pink.' he shot you a devious look, and you gasped biting your lip and trying to hide behind some hair. Oh goodness, were you really all red? Was it obvious? Were you red, or freaking neon red?   
'What were you two unruly teenagers doing in the dark, hmm?' Vincent sat on his knees, leaning over the big mask in front of him. He had one arm lying across the mask and on supporting his chin. 'Jeremy, could you just not keep those hands of yours to yourself?'   
Jeremy frowned for a moment - then he cottoned on. You didn't look at him, but you could literally feel his face flaming up in embarrassment. Raising his hands defensively, he quickly tried to stammer out an explanation. 'No! No, it was just y/n was scared, so -'  
He grinned at the boys reaction, clearly intent on tormenting the pair of you relentlessly. Tutting and shaking his head, he suddenly winked you. 'Atta boy, Jeremy. If I were you, I'd totally ta -'  
'Vincent!' Scott pleaded with the purple man, seeming distressed with his behaviour. Even more than you two were. 'Can you not -'  
'Jealous, are we?' he asked the man curiously, turning his attention onto him. 'Because I'm paying little y/n more attention, right? I like the jealous types,' he said biting his lip seductively at Scott, who suddenly seemed very flustered.   
Mike swivelled round to face Vincent, clearly ready to blow up at him for everything he had just said. In fact, you swore he had the tablet raised over his head, reading to throw at him. But Scott beat him to whatever he was about to do.  
'Just check the vents,' Scott mumbled, retrieving his flash-light and checking the hall. The man with the phone for a head faced away from you all, so you couldn't see him at all.   
Vincent chucked triumphantly, but dutifully turned back round to the vents.  
You and Jeremy looked at each other, but you couldn't meet each others gaze at all.   
'Let's go sit back over by the vent,' Jeremy whispered and without looking at you, he crawled over and sat crossed legged just outside the vent.  
'Good idea,' you said, finding your voice had deserted you.  
Joining him, the pair of you sat silently. Vincent had created tension in the room, and he seemed pretty pleased with himself for doing so.   
'...so,' Jeremy suddenly said after ten minutes of awkwardness. 'How did you find the first animatronic?' looking over, he had met your eyes confidently and seemed to have almost cooled off about the whole situation before.  
'That was the animatronic?' you said weakly. 'It was about seven feet tall! How on earth do kids find them appealing?' you said, half to yourself and half to Jeremy. 'And I couldn't see, but it looked like it had teeth the size of my arm! And they looked sharp as needles! Is that what crawls about this place?'  
Jeremy nodded sadly. 'Unfortunately so. I've been here ages now, but I still feel terrified whenever the walk into the room. I mean, one wrong move and -' Jeremy was cut short, shuddering.   
'I know.' you said gently, trying to swallow back fear which was threatening to become evident in your voice, face and actions. 'I know.'  
After that, you two returned to staring at the vent, afraid of whatever else might come out of it.   
It was like waiting for a bomb to explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Just wanted to make a quick update that you can expect chapters to pop up quite regularly, each one being updated a little bit more than week after each other if that makes any sense. It's a little routine I intend to follow.


	4. Chapter Four

The night was going slow, and dragging you all along with it. Glancing at the clock which was carefully positioned on Mike's desk, you read the time and winced. It was only quarter to one. It felt like you had sat here for an eternity.  
Clearly, your feelings were being shared amongst the others. Fritz was resting his head on the music box, listening to the whirring of the mechanics inside the machine. Scott was running his hands along the shape of the torch and yawning frequently.   
Mike, however, was the only one who seemed alert and ready. Eagerly leaning over the tablet, reporting every move and cursing the animatronics regularly, it was almost like he relished his job. Perhaps he did, you thought whilst watching him. Maybe this was what he was good at, and possibly even thought it to be like a challenge. Never slacking or missing movement, Mike was on the ball and prepared for whatever the animatronics were going to do.  
Admirably determined is the word, you thought to yourself.   
'Bonnie's coming in gang,' Mike called out. Everyone looked over to him, waiting for the news of which way Bonnie would enter through. 'Crawling through the left vent.'  
You and Jeremy were monitoring the right vent, and Vincent was on left. Unlike the panic and flustering of Jeremy, Vincent sighed and picked himself up heavily from where he was sitting. He stretched lazily as he reached for the mask and placed it on his head. Once the mask was on his head and sauntered over to a pile of boxes in the corner, away from the vent.  
Quickly, you scooped up your own mask and positioned it on your head, scurrying away from the vent just as Jeremy did. Deciding to prevent any more awkward situations between you, you went and stood near Fritz who was stood a little right centre of the room. Fritz himself had just shoved his mask roughly on, knocking his glasses askew.   
Silence filled the room as everyone's eyes fell onto the left vent. You were all waiting patiently for Bonnie to crawl out of the vent and survey the room. The lights had gone out, and you all braced yourself for Bonnie's arrival. Ten seconds passed, and you held your breath waiting for something to come clunking out of the vent.  
Thirty seconds passed and nothing happened, but nobody dared move or speak. However, you could tell this was not normal. Vincent was losing his aloof posture, Scott was started to fidget and Mike was edging over to a shaking Jeremy, trying to comfort him. To be honest, you were petrified that Jeremy would whimper too loudly and alert the animatronic crawling through the vent.  
Another minute passed, and nothing had entered the room. But the lights were still out. This was not normal, and you could tell. The atmosphere had become thickened and you could hear Jeremy stifling a whine. Your eyes had begun to adjust to the dark. The vent was still empty and nothing had emerged from it - your eyes were fixed on the vent.  
But out of the corner of the eye, you saw something. Something strange, hanging above the ceiling of the room. You nearly screamed, but you managed to keep calm and collected. Peering up at the ceiling ever so casually, you saw a disfigured creature hanging in front of you. It was moving silently, crawling along the roof. It was impossible to make out what the figure was, since it seemed like a snake, but with all sorts of wires and gears sticking out of it. But at the front, was a large head which was possible meant to resemble a fox or a wolf. Some dog like creature at least.  
You didn't get time to wonder much longer. Suddenly, the creature made a static noise and dropped its head from the roof, it's jaws wide open, exposing its many teeth which were sharp like daggers - it was aiming for your head.  
Screaming, you dodged out of its way by diving onto the floor. You heard the noise of its teeth clamping powerfully shut as you hit the floor. Quickly turning round on the backs of your hands and feet, you caught sight of the thing swinging back up onto the roof. Then all at once, it dropped onto the floor and began dragging its dismembered body towards you.  
'What the fuck is that!?' you screamed, beginning to back up on your hands and knees. The creature rose once more, opening its jaws. It dived down once more, and you rolled out of its way. The noise of clicking mechanics filled the room, along with a loud static which hurt your ears. Clearly, it had given up on being silent.  
'Y/n? What the hell's going on?' Mike screamed, suddenly diving into action. 'I can't fucking see! What's happened?' suddenly, Mike abandoned Jeremy and shot over to the desk where he was sitting. Yanking open a drawer he seemed to be searching for something.  
Scott suddenly shone the flashlight on you and the creature, so you managed to look at the attacker for the first time. You wished you hadn't.  
Its head was painted white, but it was chipped and little dirty with edge. The design was clearly meant so it looked like a girl, since it had some pink lipstick on its mouth. But its mouth and body were the problem. Inside of its jaws, ginormous talon fangs were everywhere in its mouth. There wasn't a single tooth missing, and to add to it they looked sharp as needles. You knew that if you hadn't dodged out the way, you wouldn't been dead. Its body however, was like a snakes. It was long and thin, but it was what looked like a disfigured endoskeleton. It walked about on hands and feet, like a centipede would. Along its body, all sorts was sticking out at a painful angle. Gears, wires, tubes, metal bits were like jagged edges.  
It made you freeze in place.  
'Mangle!' Jeremy squealed in the corner, cowering away from this machine which you now the knew the name of.  
Mangle rose its head and opened its jaws, ready to bite down you viciously. You couldn't move. It was like sleep paralysis had taken over your body, but this nightmare was all too real. Your mind couldn't process what this thing was. How on earth was this contraption meant to be appropriate for children? Staring at this monster helplessly, you had no idea what to do - were the animatronics meant to enter the office?  
Spinning in rapid cartwheels, something was launched from the other side of the room and aimed straight for Mangle. As it span, it also gave off light from one end, and was black and very long. The object which was thrown at Mangle connected heavily with her left eye, causing her to whine slightly and back up like a real animal would do once attacked. The sound of glass smashing filled the room. She lowered her head quickly and shut her remaining right eye, while the left one splintered into pieces and cracked. Shards now decorated the office floors along with pieces of white. The object which was threw at the machine had broken into two.   
You saw what it was now.  
The flash-light.  
Scott had reacted quickly and perhaps not logically. Seeing you about to get your face ripped off had spurred him into action, and he did the only thing he could think of. He was just as surprised as you that it had worked. Thankfully this action had cost you a torch, but gotten you some time to get the hell away from this thing.  
Scrambling to your feet whilst Mangle was down, you felt your palms and fingers slice across one of the shards, making a deep and jagged cuts across your hand. But you didn't feel the pain as you tried to get to your feet - but you couldn't stand for some reason. Your right leg was throbbing violently, but you didn't have a spare second to look and see what was wrong with it.   
Fritz suddenly grabbed your arms and hauled you up, tugging you away from Mangle as she was getting her senses back. Shaking her head she blinked, looking slightly bemused with what had just happened. But that expression was replaced by anger, as she snarled and bared her fangs at both you and Fritz, even though Scott had done the damage to Mangle. Snapping and growling Mangle began to crawl towards you, one of her eye sockets pitch black with only an acid yellow light in the centre.  
'What do we do?' Jeremy yelped. During the battle between you and Mangle he'd dived to the other side of the room for safety, where everyone else had been standing and watching helplessly. Fritz by chance was still standing behind you - otherwise you would've been dead a good forty seconds ago.   
'I - I don't know.' Mike said as you and Fritz joined everyone. Mike glanced at you, and caught sight of your hands which were in ribbons and dripping blood everywhere. 'Jesus.' he muttered under his breath, but there wasn't time to ask if you were okay. Inspiration had hit him.  
'Follow me!' he yelled suddenly, grabbing Jeremy's hand. 'We're going in the stockroom. I got the keys with me, and there's a lock on it. I don't know it it'll hold out for very long - but we have to try. This will have alerted all the animatronics -' he grabbed the tablet from the table and scanned it quickly. 'And they're all coming this way. Come on!'  
'We're leaving?' Jeremy whispered, bewildered. 'But we've never left the office.'  
'Well now we gotta.' his tone was suddenly a lot gentler when addressing Jeremy. 'They're getting smart. Now come on! Run!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Schools started again and its a pretty important year, so sorry that I've not been updating lately it totally slipped my mind! I've only just remembered now, and I've forced myself to update this chapter before I and do some studying. Thankfully most chapters are pre-written, meaning that I don't have to write the next chapters in a big messy rush. But yeah, school's begun again and updates might not be as frequent as before, but still reasonably regular.


	5. Chapter Five

Nobody had time to argue, or even come up with a better plan. Mike led the way through the corridors, and into the stockroom which he was talking about earlier. Noises from above you were echoing throughout the hall way, signaling someone was in the vent and crawling along it. Thumps from further down the corridor were getting louder, along with whirring mechanics as the animatronics moved. The horrible scrabbling sound of Mangle making her way along the ceiling was starting to catch up to you all. At one point, you could've sworn you heard quick footsteps from behind you - and when you sharply turned a corner your eyes locked with an animatronic, that to your utter horror, could move quickly - maybe quicker than you could run. But you didn't get time to get a proper look, because Scott had grabbed your arm and had begun pulling you along when you'd faltered back there.   
Running through the corridors, stumbling around blindly with no other light than the dim one emitting from something Mike was holding, you crashed into a few walls, knocking some children's drawings which were hung up proudly. How they hell can kids like these things?  
'Just through here.' Mike yelled, and then he skidded to a halt outside of a door labelled stockroom. Following, everybody else stopped, colliding with each other in the process. Delving into his pockets, Mike fumbled about and eventually found what he was looking for - he tugged out a keychain which had several keys on it. The keys jangled carelessly oblivious to the utter terror of your situation. In fact, quite a few keys decorated that key chain.  
Then the horror hit you - Mike had about two chances to get the right key in the lock for the stockroom before you were found by one of the animatronics and met your fate.  
Picking a key at random and grabbing the lock Mike tried to ram one key inside of it - but it wouldn't fit, despite him trying to jam it. Cursing he examined the keys for moment, trying to decipher which would fit into the locked door. He quickly tried another one at random.   
'For fucks' sake!' Vincent screamed, as the shadows of animatronics where evident on the walls. 'Find the key!' then suddenly, you saw the shadow moving up the hallway, becoming more clearer, and Vincent stepped back fear now evident in this aloof and uncaring man’s face.  
'I think it's this one!' Mike shouted back, ramming a key into the lock one way and then the other. The sound of the lock unclicking filled the room. Kicking the door open so it swung round and crashed with the inside wall, Mike dived inside. 'Get in!' he shouted, and you were dragged in by Vincent, closely followed by Scott and Fritz. Jeremy dived in last and then Mike slammed the door shut, locking it with the inside lock, which was like a latch, and backing away from the door.   
Everyone was cowering and shaking in the corner of the room. Fear was travelling fast around the small space - everyone was on edge, terror-stricken. Nobody dared move or speak, in case the simplest noise alerted the monsters of your presence. You heard Jeremy begin to try and stifle a cry which was going to escape from him at any moment, but thankfully Mike quickly put a hand over his mouth.   
Thumps and clanks of metal were now very loud. An animatronic was just outside the hallway, clearly looking for its prey. A horrid thought entered you mind, taunting you. What if they had seen you? Heard the door bang? Would they figure it out? The noise of metal grew louder than before as the monster edged along the halls.   
There was a small window at the top center of the door, but a blind had blocked you from view thankfully. There were no lights which were on in the pizzeria but you could just about make it shadows from the outside, such as windows and doors. Then a huge shadow was cast over the room as one of the animatronics lingered outside the room you were all hiding inside of.   
Your heart began to descend and bang against your ribs all at the same time. Blood running cold, and your body starting to shake you knew that if anyone even exhaled too loudly then everything would be over. You heard the noise of the door creaking, and the sound of a thump from the outside. You tensed. Then silence. Another, half -hearted bang.  
Thirty seconds after that last bang, the shadow moved to the left. Familiar noises of thumps were first loud but then fading. It had gone.  
But nobody dared move for another minute, until Mike suddenly spoke out his voice a lot more stable than before. However, he was still whispering a little.  
'It's okay. It's gone near the party room.' we all looked at him curiously, wondering how he knew - when he held the tablet up grinning. 'I picked this up.' he explained. 'That's how I knew which way was safe when we were running.'  
A united sigh of relief escaped everybody and your breathing was still jagged but a lot steadier. But your moment of relief was replaced by a searing pain from your hands on from one leg. Remembering you had injured them you turned your hands over to your palms to examine the damage that had been done.   
All your fingers and both palms had been shredded by the shards of glass back in the office and the blood had run down your arms and onto the backs of your hands. The cuts were definitely deep because blood was coming out at quite a quick rate. It throbbed and stung at the same time. Almost all of your hand was red. Then you looked down to your leg, which wasn't as bad as you'd feared. No glass had ripped at it, but you guessed you'd probably just twisted it.  
Suddenly Mike was beside you. He sucked in his breath and made a hissing noise. 'Shit. It didn't look as bad in the office. Christ, you're a fountain.'  
Vincent peered over Mike's shoulder and whistled, almost sounding impressed. 'That's deep. Very deep...' his voice tailed off a little and then he coughed loudly. 'Um... we better stop the, uh, bleeding.' for some reason, the cocky and confident purple man seemed a little unsettled by this sight.   
Jeremy retched and gagged.  
'I don't like blood!' Jeremy squealed from the other side of the room, covering his eyes with his hands. 'Who's hurt?'  
'Y/n.' Mike said absent mindedly. 'Um... anyone have anything we could use, or something?'  
'What about my tie?' Scott called over, undoing it as he spoke. 'I mean, it would probably stop the bleeding, but that's gonna need stitches.'  
Vincent stood up and walked over to where Scott was pulling the tie from around his neck. He reached into his back-pocket and pulled out a penknife, flicking it up. The blade gleamed in the small darkened room, as bright as Vincent's malicious grin, and Scott held the tie out so Vincent could cut it down the middle.   
'Do you always carry that thing?' Scott said wearily, but Vincent smiled and shrugged ignoring the question. Instead he tapped his nose coyly with his free hand, then neatly sliced the tie into. Almost expertly. The cut was so fast and clean, the knife just gleamed in the small light of the room.  
The tie had been severed and Scott walked over to you and knelt down in front of you. Obediently you gave him you left hand and he carefully tried to bandage it up. Even when the fabric touched it, you yelped and pulled your hand away automatically. 'Sorry,' he said apologetically. You held your hand out again, now aware of what it was going to feel like.  
'No, it's not you.' you explained as he carefully bandaged your palms. 'It's just - ow - my palms. My fingers aren't even that bad, but I think I sliced my skin open when -'  
Fritz was standing in the corner with Jeremy trying to calm him down in case he was going to throw up at all this talk of bandages and sliced skin. 'Please!' Jeremy pleaded from the corner. 'I feel sick! Stop!'  
You sighed, rolled your eyes and held out your other hand. Your fingers were still throbbing but your palm had eased up slightly. Half of you wanted to walk over to the shivering Jeremy and stick your hands in face to see if he'd actually throw up. But Jeremy was on the verge of insanity by the looks of it, and after the events of what had happened your actions could be what causes him to crack.  
'There.' He said, seeming satisfied with his work. Finishing up the improvised bandages he examined your hands. 'Not the best thing, but it should do for now. You'll have to go to hospital when we... if we, I mean...' suddenly, his voice failed him and he sheepishly got to his feet staring at the ground. Pretending to you study your hands, you made out like you hadn't heard him suggest the idea that you'll actually survive. Coughing awkwardly he searched for a topic change.  
'So. Yeah. Just be careful.' he said bluntly and then he walked over to Mike and Vincent who were whispering furiously at each other in the corner, arguing over something or other.   
Watching Scott walk off, you sighed heavily and replayed Scott's words in your head again. Not wanting to touch the delicate subject of escape being impossible, he'd left the thought floating around in your head. Perhaps his choice to not finish the taboo words was his way of warning you that this could be your final hours alive.  
'Y-Y/n?' someone's voice came out from behind you. Shaky with a hint of nervousness it was obvious who was trying to catch your attention. Turning around, you saw Jeremy standing there a little shyly, glancing down at his hands which were being rubbed together anxiously. His cream turtleneck covered his hands, so only his fingers were exposed. Once again, his face was concealed by his dark brown hair - but then he quickly lifted his head so he was looking at you.   
'How... are your hands?' he managed to squeak out, but it was clear the thought of your hands was making him feel ill. Terrified he might faint, you quickly hid your hands and faked a bright smile.  
'Much better.' you said brightly, smiling. 'They’re okay now. Are you okay?'  
'I think I am.' Jeremy said quietly. He paused. 'You sure?' he asked again worriedly.  
'I'm alright, I promise.' you said reassuringly, even if it was a lie.  
'O-Oh. It's just that...' Jeremy swallowed, lost for words. He turned away from you slightly. 'I wanted to see... if you were um... alright. And... I came over... to apologize.' he finished, his voice getting quieter as he spoke.  
Apologize? Confused you asked him curiously. 'Apologize for what?'   
'Back in the office... when she - when Mangle swung down and went to bite you, I just stood there. I didn't help you. Everyone else did a little bit of something to try and distract Mangle - but I just stood there.' he repeated, getting upset about the situation. His voice cracked slightly and his face was guilt ridden. 'You could've died, and -' suddenly he broke off. Jeremy looked at you once more and you saw tear stains down his face.  
Feeling your heart twisting, you quickly tried to reassure the weeping boy. 'No, no! Don't think that at all, Jeremy - there was nothing you could've done. I mean, I was scared myself. In fact, I'm just glad you're okay.' you insisted, still smiling.  
Suddenly Jeremy's arm reached out - slowly and gently so he wouldn't take you by surprise - and carefully took your arm. Softly, so he wouldn't hurt you he carefully moved it over so he could see your hand which was wrapped up in what was once Scott's tie. His hands bravely took your wrist and he lifted your hand up, looking at the wound carefully.   
His hands were so warm and soft. His fingers traced the bandage line as if it were an antique in a museum and he was scared of breaking it. Peering at the wound, he sniffed again, dolefully.   
'Look at your gorgeous hands -'   
As if they were scalding him, Jeremy suddenly let go of your hands, aware of what had just come out of his mouth. Helplessly he looked about the room, avoiding your gaze. His cheeks were flushing dark crimson red and he swung his hands behind his back quickly, as if he was trying to feign innocence.   
'I - I - meant - your hands, they're um, hurt, so I - look, I was wondering if you'd want to come and sit with me and Fritz -' Spluttering, trying to get the words out he failed miserably at his attempt to coolly brush off the situation. Blushing yourself, in the hope to save the poor boy from any further embarrassment you hurriedly took up his suggestion of sitting with him and his friend.  
'Okay!' you said quickly, pretending the whole situation had never happened. Walking past him, you felt your own face burn the color of fire. You bit your lip, imagining your face in a freezer and praying that the shade of red would fade by the time Jeremy joined you. However, you couldn't help but feel a little pleased at that sweet compliment. Gorgeous hands, you thought to yourself a little smugly as you sat down on a box next to Fritz. Jeremy was trailing behind you, his head ducked and also praying his flaming face would subside. You reached where the redhead was sitting.  
Deciding to see if Fritz was okay, you turned to him as Jeremy took a seat on the floor in front of you both, leaning against a wall.   
'You alright?' you questioned the red haired boy. Fritz noticed you and smiled wanly.  
'I'm still a bit shaken up, but okay I suppose.' he sighed and suddenly placed his elbows on his knees and sighed. 'Wow.' he said, almost giggling. But then he turned back into a serious boy. Removing his glasses he began cleaning them on his shirt, rethinking the events of five minutes ago. 'I never thought in my life... this would happen.'  
'Oh. This isn't normal?' you asked. The last shred of hope you had withered away inside of you, curling up into a small shriveled object. A tiny part inside of you had been continuously insisting that this was all part of a normal night, despite the fact that it was at a low possibility.   
Fritz stared at you like you were insane. 'Um, no? Usually we just chill in the office. Mangle's never done that before. But... I guess it was sorta obvious the robots are getting used to our tricks. Chica never hovers that long, usually. It's a whistle stop visit, but clearly they're getting wise to our old tricks.' the last part was said forlornly. Hope was now out of the window.  
'Oh.' you said, a little uncertain towards how you should reply. In the end, you went for. 'They aren't even meant to move, really.'  
'No. I suppose not.' Fritz said like he had only just realized this fact. Frowning he continued to speak. 'Just get used to it, you know? Like, obviously it's a shock when you first find out, but - you should see them in the day, y/n.'  
'The day?' you repeated doubtfully, hardly able to believe that these things were allowed to wander freely during the day. Who in their right mind would think that this is a good place to bring toddlers and children? Instead of saying this, you held your tongue curious towards what the red-haired boy had to say.  
'Uh huh.' Fritz placed his glasses back on his snub nose. 'You wouldn't even guess. So nice. So friendly. Well, to me and Jere at least. Bit funny around adults, like Scott and Mike.' Fritz shrugged, displaying he had no idea why they did this. 'Vincent doesn't come in during the day though. He used to, I think. But then he stopped.'  
You were about to ask what made him stop, when suddenly you noticed Mike make your way over to you all. He looked lost and helpless, but he still clutched the tablet. Three of you turned your eyes onto Mike who awkwardly jerked his thumb over to where Scott and Vincent were sitting. Over Mike's shoulder, you saw Vincent saying something to Scott who seemed very flustered.  
'We all think you guys should come over here,' he said uneasily. Your attention was back on Mike. 'We should all stick together, you know. Stay close. So then we can all watch out for each other and stuff. Plus, I can alert you all about what this little fuckers are doing.'  
Heavily you all rose to your feet and followed Mike towards were the other two men were sitting. Walking over, you Vincent had a pleased expression on his face and Scott looked a little embarrassed. Deciding not to ask, you sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. Scott was to your left and he waved at you, trying to lighten to heavy atmosphere. Jeremy took the place next to you. Mike sat on an old box near Jeremy and Fritz perched next to Mike.  
Six of you were bunched up closely together in the corner of a small stockroom, with light coming from the tablet Mike was examining. Silence filled the room.  
'So,' Mike said breaking the silence. His eyes didn't leave the tablet. 'Bonnie's in the party room. Nobody is near here for the minute.'  
Since what he said was more of a fact and less of a question nobody said anything for a while. Staring at the ground, you drew your knees up and carefully wrapped your hands around your knees so you wouldn't irritate the ripped skin.   
'Why don't we make bets on who the first to cry is?' Vincent suddenly said, but his suggestion was met with glares of annoyance from everyone, including Jeremy. Pulling a face he rolled his eyes and muttered. 'Or not.'   
Ignoring him, everybody returned to what they were doing before - which was nothing. Apart from waiting for the animatronics to discover where you were.   
How long would it take for them to find you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Read:
> 
> Hi again, just me. I'm going to warn you in advance. The next chapter might take a while to get up, because of school and stuff which has started again. Might be a bit more than a week for the next update. Maybe about ten days? But it won't take more than two weeks, I can absolutely promise. Thank you so much for all the reads and kudos as well! It means a lot to me! Anyway, enjoy the rest of your day,  
> Amy


	6. Chapter Six

Tap.  
Tap.  
Tap.  
'Can you stop that?' Mike snarled from the other side of the room, glaring at the purple man who had been tapping his foot against the floor. It wasn't even consecutive taps - he lowered his foot against the floor slowly, almost like he was taunting you all. Whether this action was meant to be some kind of time passer or a way to aggravate everyone in the room you did not know. But if anything, it was causing some unknown tension in the room to rise steadily.  
Vincent said nothing but obediently stopped. Watching him from the corner of your eyes, you saw him teasingly raise his foot again to see what Mike would say - but Mike was once again glued to the tablet. He lowered his foot, knowing he would get no reaction. Leaning back he stretched casually seeming to be stifling a yawn, almost like he was bored. That was when his eyes locked with yours and he playfully winked at you in a way that was an attempt at seducing you.  
Rolling your eyes you narrowed your eyes at him, hoping to appear threatening but this only seemed to encourage his childish behaviour, for he then traced his tongue across his teeth and bit his lip whilst keeping eye contact with you, his eyes becoming slits as the purple man gazed fondly at you.  
'Creep.' you growled, just loud enough for him to hear. As you focused your attention on the grey wall in front of you were you'd previously been sitting, you heard Vincent laugh a little a deep low laugh, evidently pleased with the reaction which you had given him.  
'Hm?' Jeremy said, snapping to attention beside of you. He craned forward so he could face you. 'Did you say something, y/n?' for some reason he sounded worried.  
'Nope. Nothing.' you lied through gritted teeth.  
'Oh.' he said, his tone sounding disappointed. 'I thought you did.' he said, but he didn't lean back to where he was sitting. In fact he sat up straighter and edged further into the little semi-circle in where you were all sat. Crossing his legs he rested his elbows upon his knees and sighed forlornly. His bottom lip began to quiver and he sniffed a little, trying to hold in tears which were on the brink of overflowing. 'I'm...' he tried to begin, but his voice cracked and failed him.  
Hearing Jeremy sniff, Mike leaned over distractedly towards him and ruffled his dark brown hair comfortingly. 'I know, Jere.' he said softly. 'I know.' Mike's tone had softened like it always did whenever he spoke to Jeremy, but this kindness was probably the last straw for the boy with the question mark. A small sob escaped him, but he quickly tried to regain control of his emotions, causing him to whimper like a lost puppy.  
'At least we're all here,' you found yourself saying, trying to lighten the dark situation. Turning your head to face him you flashed him a supportive smile - which he saw. He stopped snivelling and smiled wryly back, but his pale face was streaked with tears which had just slipped down his face.  
'Y-yeah,' he mumbled but he sounded a little less down than he previously did.  
'What time is it?' Fritz called out to Scott who was the only one in the room who bothered to put on a wristwatch every single morning. Without looking, Scott replied monotone.  
'Ten past one. I checked about fifteen second’s ago.' his voice was weary and tired. Without his tie, his collar button had been undone, and the collar itself looked slightly creased. Giving up on his formal appearance, his shirt had become pulled out of trousers and it hung loose and slightly wrinkled. The loose shirt showed his slender build and his black trousers displayed his long and thin legs. His left leg was bent at the knee, his right one perfectly straight. His phone head dipped a little as he stared at the floor. Despite the fact he didn't have facial features, it was easy to tell how he felt and even what his expression would be if he didn’t have dial.  
Whilst you were surveying Scott for the first time properly, you felt Mike suddenly tense. Bringing the tablet closer to his face, he stared at it his eyes flickering, wild with fear and terror. Noticing his hands had begun to shake, you were very afraid with what news he was going to bring you. Mike had been alerting you all of the animatronics every movement every few minutes, but his updates had been simple ones, nothing to stress too much about. However, his immediate reaction had left your throat dry.  
'What?' you whispered, your heart beginning to thump wildly. When the man studying the tablet failed to respond, you tried again, louder but still keeping a hushed voice. 'What?' you said more desperately, but Mike quickly held a finger to his lips, signalling for you all to be quiet.  
A heavy atmosphere coated the room, like a shadow sweeping over you all. The silence of the small stockroom became slightly deafening. At one point, you could've sworn you heard the united quick tempo of all your heartbeats thumping furiously. But the only noise you could hear was your own heartbeat, loud in your ears. You didn't realize you were trembling until Jeremy suddenly placed a hand on your shoulder, as a way of comforting you. In fact, you were shaking quite violently, so Jeremy's hand softly tightened around your arm, as his little way of calming you. His touch told you he was here, next to you. But then you felt Jeremy begin to shiver as well, and you thought that he was probably more afraid than you.  
You looked over to the door, terrified of what you might see. However, there was nothing apart from the sound of clicking gears as something made it's way along the hallway. The slow and painful sounding whacks as it crept across the hallway was like a bomb ticking down to death. With each step, you heard whirring and machinery noises. As the clumping noise got louder, the animatronic which was outside really began to test you all.  
Music, like you would get a child’s music box began to ring throughout the halls, singing its song of the end carelessly and freely, oblivious to the utter horror it was striking into everyone. The tune was light and soft opposed to the heavy hunk of metal it was coming from. Then it was becoming louder - and the shadow of the monster was evident outside your door. It stopped for a second, pausing directly adjacent to the room you were all hiding in.  
Shrinking back and praying you'd turn invisible, you felt a scream curdling in your throat. Shit. If you so much as breathed too loudly, you'd all be discovered. Trying to prevent it from being unleashed and causing the robot to guess your hiding spot, you bit your lip hard hoping that your shriek would eventually bubble back under the surface. The taste of blood was in your mouth, and the scream was threatening to escape you. Whether it was Jeremy's timing or the fact that he noticed he suddenly let his hand slip further down your arm until it found your hand, giving you the option to hold it. Without taking your eyes of the door, your hand clasped Jeremy's tightly out of fear ignoring the pain in your hands. For some reason this action calmed you slightly.  
The cry sank back underneath your throat, and you felt a lot more composed.  
Sadly this feeling was not going to last, for the animatronic hurled it arm against the door in the attempts to open it. The ear-splitting crash caused you all to jump, and you all simultaneously edged silently away from the door. Refusing to open it held sturdy, but then the animatronic tried again - and the latch lock on the door swung slightly looser. It was looking like it was going to come loose and fall off. At any second.  
Nobody dared breathe. Nobody dared move or hope that everything would be okay.  
The tune died down. The robot stepped away from the door, bored of its game and it walked away, a little faster than it had been moving before. It was probably heading to office.  
Mike eyed the tablet and the movement of the animatronic, not even blinking for a good minute. But then he gave the okay signal by breathing out heavily. 'Foxy,' he said quietly. 'Banging on the door,' he laughed emptily. 'Little shit.'  
A wave of relief washed over everybody in the room. Scott undid the second button from the top and waved a hand trying to cool himself. 'We really do need that fan in the office, you know.' he joked, trying to relax everybody. But it didn't work. There was still a hint of danger in the room, clinging to everyone and refusing to release you all.  
Breathing out heavily, you flop back lazily, allowing yourself a minute to absorb the events of the past hour. It had only been an hour which made everything ten times more horrific to endure. Surely it should’ve been at least four hours by now? Unfortunately these minutes were ticking by tediously, along with the unbearable and terrifying thoughts that this could be a dead-end for you all.  
Noting that your hand was still locked with Jeremy’s you turned to him, deciding to inform him that it was safe to let go. But the second you laid your eyes on him you knew something was sickeningly wrong with this boy.  
Shivering and shaking he appeared to be trying to speak, though no sound came from his lips. Enclosing his hand tighter around yours you could feel his pulse on your own palm – it was getting faster and faster. All at once his hand went from boiling hot to freezing cold and he was starting to breathe pretty heavily.  
‘Jeremy?’ you said, trying to wriggle your hand free but he gripped tighter and shook his head. For a shy boy this was very peculiar behavior for him – but it was undoubtedly for no reason. Utter terror was in face and for a few seconds it was like something else had taken over his body and it wasn’t going to give it back to him.  
‘Jeremy?’ you repeated louder, waving a bandaged hand in front of his face – but this action didn’t even make him jump back a little at the sight of your hands.  
As your voice raised, it successfully caught the attention of Mike who abandoned his tablet in the blink of an eye when he saw that Jeremy was acting strangely. The older man jumped up from where he was sitting and knelt down in front of Jeremy. Placing his hands on his shoulders, he gave the boy a little shake like he was trying to snap him out of his trance. When Jeremy didn’t react, Mike tried again harder. ‘Snap out of it, Jere.’ He said, but there was nothing fierce about his tone – it had soften considerably but there was a hint of worry to it.  
Jeremy didn’t react.  
‘What’s wrong with him?’ you asked nervously, your own heart beginning to thump.  
Fritz craned forward worriedly. ‘What’s up with Jeremy?’  
‘I don’t know,’ Mike admitted after staying silent for a few moments while he pondered Fritz’s question. Then over his shoulder he called out to everyone. ‘He can have funny spells.’ He said at a hopeless attempt of explaining the issue to everyone in the room. ‘I get worried sick when he’s like this.’  
‘Like this?’ Vincent asked, leaning forward to examine Jeremy better, seeming more curious than concerned. ‘I mean he’s been funny before, but never like this.’  
Mike momentarily faced Vincent to speak to him. A flash of worry was evident in his eyes. ‘It only happens when…’ Mike tailed off, seeming unsure of how to finish the sentence. Instead he shook his head and turned his attention back to Jeremy, his face filled with concern and fear.  
‘Can he walk?’ Scott suddenly chimed in, standing up. ‘Try and get him to walk over there, Mike. In the space near the shelves. Try and cool him off.’  
Scott was by Jeremy’s side and he proffered his arm to him, offering help in getting up. ‘Come on now,’ he said kindly. ‘Stay strong.’  
Jeremy didn’t move, but he appeared to register Scott’s presence for he looked up slightly baffled at the man, his eyebrows furrowed worryingly. Mike gently tried to haul Jeremy up when he failed to take the arm of the man to his left, but this action caused a bit of a stir. Shrinking back, Jeremy appeared to be cowering away from everyone in fear. Flinching at Mike’s soft touch he shook his head and curled up further into himself.  
He began to talk to himself then. You couldn’t hear him, but the words he spoke appeared to be very dark.  
‘Vincent,’ Mike suddenly said sternly, making him tear his eyes away from Jeremy. His eyes locked with Mike’s and for a second the two were almost forced to act like civil humans towards each other. This was an effort for men who despised one another so much.  
‘Hm?’ Vincent said, as coolly as he could muster.  
‘Take the tablet for a second and watch it. Just while I sort him out.’ Mike said, not even looking at the purple man. ‘Won’t be long hopefully. Just watch what they do, you got that?’  
Annoyed at being spoken to like he was some pathetic child, the purple man had half a mind to tell Mike that he wasn’t his slave and who the hell did he think he was to bark out orders – but for once he held his tongue and grimly reached for the tablet, silently seething. He grimaced at the thought of obeying Mike, but his life had taught him sometimes he had to let things slide.  
You and Fritz had backed away from the scene in the corner and had gone to sit near Vincent, watching from afar. Biting your lip as Jeremy continuously uttered inaudible words to himself you addressed Fritz, but never allowed your eyes to be taken from Jeremy.  
‘Will he be okay?’ you asked quietly, as Scott monitored Mike’s actions whilst he leant on a pile of boxes.  
Fritz allowed himself to look at you for a second. ‘Should be.’ He said, shrugging. ‘He’s always been a bit nervy. But this is a bit weird, even for him.’  
‘Weird kid,’ Vincent interrupted but only loud enough for you two to hear. Carelessly he flicked through the tablet, not really taking in what the animatronics where doing. ‘Don’t know why Mike goes all gooey eyed whenever something goes wrong with him; not worth the time, really.’  
Unable to believe your ears, your gaze turned icy and was directed straight at Vincent. ‘Are for you real?’ you hissed menacingly, anger starting to boil inside of you. Out of everything he'd said and done tonight, this was perhaps the lowest he'd stooped. What was this guys problem? Why did he feel the need to be an asshole at a time like this?  
Two can play at that game.  
Clenching your fists, you angrily snapped at him. ‘Are you for fucking real?’ you repeated when he failed to answer you.  
‘Don’t swear at me,’ Vincent snorted, like he found it amusing you’d even dare using vulgar language in front of him. Raising his head from the tablet he saw your expression and didn’t like it. Narrowing his own eyes into slights he glared straight back at you, sending shivers down your spine. ‘Got a right to an opinion, don’t I?’ he challenged you. Silently, somehow he was daring you to answer back.  
The glare which was aimed at you was chilling, but you weren’t about to break eye contact with him. ‘Just keep your vile opinions to yourself, you freak.’ You growled threateningly, your heart starting to beat not so much with fear but with resentment for this man.  
‘Don’t annoy me, y/n.’  
‘Or what?’ You hissed, with a slight laugh. Patiently, you waited for Vincent to reply, perhaps even start fighting you. Cold white eyes slowly began to pull away from your gaze and over to the other corner of the room.  
‘Exactly.’ You muttered triumphantly. Turning back around your heart beating in your ears, your temper starting to subside as soon as you stopped speaking to the man.  
However, it felt right to defend Jeremy. To be honest, it was almost automatic and you couldn’t help yourself. Those words you’d spoken were usually only said that way if someone had pushed your buttons and you’d snapped after holding in the anger for ages. Feeling a slight sense of an achievement, you turned around pleased you’d stuck up for someone who was a little bit meek, unable to fight his own battles.  
But your victory didn’t last long. As you were turning back around you noticed two things about the door; one, there was a strange slender figure casting its frightening silhouette on the blinds; the door latch was literally clinging on for dear life. You had to double take to make sure you’d gotten this right. Watching the door, you notice the figure slowly raise a long lanky arm, and begin to gently push the door open. The latch came loose from the door, and swung silently to the side.  
Noiselessly the door began to edge open.  
Before you could even register what was going up, you darted up from where you were sat and you ran to door. Flinging yourself against it to slam it shut, you felt the door connect with the figure outside, causing it to stumble back slightly at the impact. As you leaned all your weight against the door, the figure tried hurling itself against it determined to open it. Knowing it was only a matter of time before this creature wrestled the door open, you screamed.  
‘The door’s open! Something’s going to get in!’  
As you finished your last word, the door was thumped on again, causing you to nearly fall back and let go of the door once and for all. But you pushed on it, fighting frantically to keep it closed.  
‘Fuck!’ someone shouted, but you didn’t see who. What happened next came about so quickly.  
The creature had threw itself against the door one final time, causing you to fall to the floor painfully scraping your elbows. As you hit the floor, the door swung open, missing your legs by no more than a hair. Trying to kick it shut, you raised your foot but you completely missed the door and it slammed loudly against the wall with an ear-splitting wallop, causing you to flinch.  
‘The Marionette!’ someone screamed from behind you. ‘The music box must’ve run out!’  
Looking up, your eyes made contact with the monster which stood before you. Hollow black holes stared you out, almost curiously, at this figure which was made visible by the small light from the doorway.  
Quickly getting to your feet, you didn’t even look back at the others who were watching this scene take place. It was obvious that the location of everyone was now known by this lanky figure which was standing in the doorway.  
Unless…  
The music box was what kept this puppet-like thing content, prevented it from stirring. You vaguely remembered Fritz telling you about it before, about how the melody lulled the frightening animatronic into a peaceful sleep, preventing it from waking up and attacking everyone.  
Maybe if you could find the office and wind it up before the Marionette reported what he found to the animatronics…?  
Dodging past the Marionette you leapt into the corridor, away from the safety of the stockroom.  
Not even stopping for a second to ponder a better plan, you charged off down the hallway, away from where everyone was hiding. You prayed to god that you would attract its attention somehow and lure it away from everyone else. The light of the doorway made you much more visible than anyone else in the room. They were all much further back in the shadows.  
As you darted off blindly you slammed into a wall which was straight in front of you, causing you to stumble back having the breath knocked out of you. Slowly, your eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was another hallway which came off to your left.  
Before running down this corridor, you stole a glance at the Marionette – who was following you curiously, momentarily distracted by your strange choice to avoid it. This puppet was not fast, but it could move quickly when it wanted to. Plus it had long legs, making it trickier to outrun.  
Returning your eyes to the hallway in front of you, you began to blunder blindly round the pizzeria, searching for the main office. Even if you were found by an animatronic, you hoped it might distract them momentarily and give the others a higher chance to live.


	7. Update!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a chapter, it's an update! I was going to call it chapter 6.5, but clearly Archive doesn't allow that!

Hello! I apologize, this isn't a proper chapter. But instead of leaving you all in the dark for the next month, I should explain I won't be updating! This is because I have FOUR exams this week, followed up by a mock in every subject which I do at school! Now mock's aren't that important but I am in my final year and the result which I get off this mock will be the one they are planning on sending to any colleges which I might be going to! Panic! So I need to do some studying and put writing aside for a while. I won't be gone for good though. I've been working on this for a while and I am determined to get it finished, no matter how long it may take! (I have a feeling it will take us into next year, thus making it the longest story I have wrote to date! Fun fact!) However, for this month I want to concentrate on school. Thank you for understanding - and thank you for all the Kudos and the reads! It means a lot to me! Honestly I can't help but smile every time I log onto here! But I guess I should wrap it up now before it becomes too long winded. I aim to update next sometime at the end of next month. I know it's a long wait, but blame school! If I could have MY way I'd be writing stories non-stop... but oh well!

Amy


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Um, at the beginning Jeremy is saying some pretty dark stuff. If you may think that this might offend you, then just skip to the XXXX and I'll summarise what you missed out on reading. at the bottom of the page in the notes section. Thanks!

Back in the stockroom, everyone was struggling to take in the moment which had changed everything. Jeremy was taking it the hardest. He was sitting in the corner of the room, tugging violently at his hair and curling up into a boy whimpering angrily at himself.  
He was to blame; if he hadn’t started having one of his ‘moments’ then somebody – anybody who was stronger than the only girl in the room – would’ve paid more attention to what was going on in the room.  
Mike was hovered over him trying to calm him down, despite the fact his own heart was thumping violently, showing no signs of stopping.  
‘I don’t deserve to live.’ Jeremy was mumbling repeatedly into himself, getting smaller with each sentence. ‘I don’t deserve to breathe. Just kill me.’ He begged, trembling violently. Looking up, he saw Mike standing over him, trying to relax him but even Mike couldn’t fix this. She was a dead girl from the moment she ran from the room.  
Why didn’t I notice the door? Mike demanded his rhetorical question to be answered. But obviously, it wasn’t.  
‘Easy, Jeremy,’ Mike said comfortingly, kneeling down in front of him and rubbing his shoulders. The tablet had been abandoned on the side for now. However, if he looked at it he would see that you had not been killed, but you were running away from the Marionette. ‘Take deep breaths now, just calm down.’  
Mike’s words of comfort were meaningless to Jeremy. Continuously he whimpered helplessly, hating himself for being such a weakling. Maybe his dad was right after all; he was nothing more than a problem. Waste of space.  
‘We have to find her.’ Jeremy gasped, suddenly blinking at Mike with those eyes he found it hard to refuse. ‘Please, can you just look at the tablet and –‘  
‘Jeremy…’ Mike felt guilt twist in his chest when he said this. ‘I don’t want to see her… you know.’  
‘Just try!’ Jeremy pleaded, his eyelashes soaked with tears. Trembling he looked straight into Mike’s eyes as more tears spilled over his face. ‘We have to look sometime. Please!’  
Taken aback by Jeremy’s sudden change of character, Mike was a little at loss for words. In fact, he was almost wavering towards the idea Jeremy was suggesting. The only problem was, if he did see her on the tablet, the only thing he’d see would probably be her dead corpse on the floor.  
Shaking his head softly, but not wanting to say anything, he looked around the room for someone to help him break the news which Jeremy was refusing to listen to. Nobody seemed eager to come to his aid. Not even Scott.  
After the incident had happened, Scott had found himself barely able to stand, so he had walked himself over to a corner, and sat upon a box. Tapping nervously at his receiver, curling the wire round his fingers, the scene of you being led to your death was playing over and over again in his head. Relentlessly.  
‘Maybe,’ he suddenly said, desperately. ‘Maybe she might…’ but his words tailed off. Unable to bear to listen to the shit he was about to tell everyone he kept quiet. There was no point raising any hopes. From the moment she left the room, she had her fate signed. Resting his elbows upon his knees and leaning forward, he stared at the floor, not really sure what to do any more.  
Deep in thought, he didn’t notice a purple figure slowly make his way over, silently and swiftly. Only when Vincent was stood right in front of Scott did he look up. Seeing it was Vincent, he dropped his head again and sighed loudly. Static buzzed as he did so. He wasn’t in the mood for any of his tricks.  
But to his surprise, Vincent didn’t try to crack a joke, or pull any funny business. Perhaps he realised the seriousness of the situation. Sitting himself beside his friend, he didn’t speak straight away. Instead, he patiently waited for Scott to speak, or even to tell him to buzz off. Five seconds had passed before Scott spoke into the silence.  
‘If I survive tomorrow, I’m quitting.’ He said. Addressing the floor rather than Vincent, he exhaled deeply. ‘It’s obvious that… we can’t go on like this forever. The animatronics are learning our old tricks. That’s why we’re in here. And if we are lucky enough to survive, the first thing we’ll probably see is a young girl. Dead. Brutally murdered. And… in a way, we’re all to blame.’  
Scott paused for breath. Vincent remained quiet.  
‘Nobody paid attention to the door. If she hadn’t noticed it, we’d probably all be dead by now. I can’t even say thank you.’  
Sensing his friend was finished, Vincent spoke calmly into the space. ‘I know.’ He said, though in reality he didn’t. Lying had always been his speciality, and had never had trouble with it before.  
But something had changed. He didn’t know the first thing about losing someone you care about. And to be honest, he’d known you less than three hours. Hardly any time to form a bond, let alone a strong bond. The only thing that gave him some form of emotion was seeing his friend so distraught. Out of everyone, he’d known Scott the longest. Guilt crept up on him whenever he looked at Scott. His positive attitude, likeable character, optimistic personality.  
He never saw any bad in anyone.  
Lying was getting more difficult nowadays to this man with the phone for his head. Unable to erase his past, it was constantly playing on his mind about what he did to those five children. Afraid he’d stumble or trip up, even let out a cold joke that gave himself away, lately he’d struggled to hold a decent conversation with Scott. Hence all the teasing.  
Because…  
Surprising himself, Vincent suddenly wrapped an arm round the man. Not flirtatiously, no. But a comforting arm went around his shoulder. Startled at this moment, Scott nearly automatically pushed his hand away. Instead, feeling that this was meant to act as some kind of assurance, he didn’t pull away, or slap his arm away.  
Accepting this action, Scott found himself leaning in slightly more than he intended to. Noticing nothing, Vincent lent his chin on top of Scott’s phone which curved across his head. ‘I know,’ he repeated with effort. After that nothing more was said. Finding in comfort in just being with someone, Scott felt a little more eased.  
Fritz weakly reached over for the tablet, knowing that somebody had to take watching again soon. Grasping it with his hand, he tugged it towards himself, a little afraid of what he might see. No screaming had been heard from the halls, but it was easy enough to say that you had fainted or even been strangled unconscious.  
Flicking through the cameras listlessly he barely examined each room. Until he reached the office. Blinking in surprise, he had to double take to make sure he had seen right.  
Convinced he had seen somebody – a human – slip into the office, he shook his head and tried to focus his eyesight. Looking again, he saw that the hallway was barren. No animatronics were even lingering around there, let alone a human. But he could’ve sworn…  
Shrugging it off and deciding that he was probably seeing things he stood up and walked over to Mike who was still hunched over Jeremy. Seeing that Mike was bent over Jeremy, still trying to ease him, the ginger boy hesitated, not wanting to disturb anyone.  
Deciding to leave the tablet on a nearby box, he quietly placed it down and silently walked away from the two in the corner. Instead, he walked over to Scott and Vincent, deciding to see if they were okay.

XXXX

Diving into the office, you wildly looked around, eyes wide, heart pounding, shivers shaking you. For a moment, you paused, realising you couldn’t see anything inside the dim office. Panic arises inside of you. Unsure of where the music box was, you knew that it was a race against both time and the approaching Marionette. That thing had a strong grip. Luckily enough for you, you somehow managed to pull from its grip.  
Whether you could pull this stunt a second time was something which you didn’t want to find out.  
Adrenaline taking over you, without thinking you searched the desk desperately, knocking over cups causing the phone to fall to the floor with a loud crash. When the desk was clear and there was no sign of the music box, you decided to check the back of the room.  
Jumping over the desk, you reach the back of the room in two strides. As you land neatly on your feet, the Marionette’s giggles are getting a lot louder. Innocent sounding, you knew exactly that these were giggles of pleasure at your fear and confusion. Brushing off the thought of being stuffed into a suit, you drop to the floor and start scrambling about in the dark randomly.  
Searching with no luck, you resist the urge to cuss or scream. Your hands touch various things – abandoned masks, coffee cups, boxes – even a part of the flash-light which Scott had launched at Mangle had somehow made its way over here.  
That was when a soft chuckle emanated from the door, whipping round while still crouched, you saw the Marionette standing in front of the desk. Looking straight at you.  
Standing up rapidly, you quickly moved back – to remember that there was nothing but a wall behind you. Knowing that you were cornered, you start to tremble violently, fear taking over your body. Horror ran a cold finger down your spine, laughing callously at your poor efforts and ideas of living. Pressing yourself against the wall, praying you’d somehow blend it, your foot kicked against something.  
Glancing down, you saw the small shape of a slightly dark cuboid.  
The Music Box.  
Reaching down and grabbing it with both hands, you hauled it up and quickly began searching for the wind. Hands scrabbling helplessly over it, you desperately began to feel for a wind, a switch – anything that would wind it up and put the Marionette and you at peace.  
Awake as ever, the Marionette etched forward, a grin spread across its face. Staring directly at you, it began to giggle slightly. Not moving; but just giggling. Finding your utter terror and helplessness amusing, the puppet did nothing but wallow in the room’s atmosphere. It had been a while since someone had last died. Savouring this moment was crucial to him, but it couldn’t last forever.  
For the final time your hands traced over the box, hunting for whatever would get the music going. Suddenly, you felt a small switch with your index finger as you ran your hand along the left side. Hurriedly you re-traced your steps and searched around for the button which you had felt mere moments ago. You felt it as you moved your finger back a few centimetres.  
Stabbing fiercely at it, you held it in for a good five seconds. A small winding noise emitted from it.  
The sound of this distracted the Marionette who stopped cackling, and instead paused curiously at this familiar sound. Silence filled the room, apart from a soft creaking noise of the music preparing to play. Tilting it’s head, the Marionette seemed distracted. Releasing your finger, a small tune began to play, soft and sweet.  
Hearing the gentle twinkle of some lullaby, the Marionette seemed instantly comforted. A total change of character took over the lanky figure. Silently, the figure span around deliriously, like it was in a trance and began to exit the office.  
Panting heavily, you watched it leave the room. Without looking back, you were no longer its main priority. Using this chance to wind it up further, you pressed the button in again and held it for much longer. The creaking noise filled the room. The music began to play again.  
By this time the Marionette was long gone, and out of sight. Breathing out, feeling like a weight had just been removed from your body, you tucked the music box underneath your arm. Keeping hold of it was probably the best thing to do. Sure, it wasn’t light; but it was portable, so that was okay.  
Sensing the Marionette was now long gone, timidly you edged forward to the office exit. However, as you were walking towards it, you stopped wavering on whether it was a good idea to leave or stay.  
Staying in the office was surely dangerous. Vents were offering the animatronics an easy entrance to this room. But the vents had light switches inside them. Turning them on would surely make you feel safer, since it was light the dull room, even only by a bit. Not to mention you had access to the masks. What prevented you from staying was remembering that everyone had mentioned the animatronics were somehow evolving. With them becoming more aware of your plans, staying in the office was signing your own death lease.  
Venturing out into the open was just as bad, though. Sure, you had the music box and you could grab a mask while you were here. However, roaming the halls freely were man-murdering monsters who were a lot bigger and stronger than you ever would be. Perhaps they couldn’t run, no. That still didn’t guarantee your safety. It would be easy enough for them to corner you, kill you and then carry on with their nightly routine.  
Stuck between two decisions, you stood lingering by the door for several seconds. Having time to plan your actions would’ve helped a lot, but in this place time was now a privilege. Certainly not to be wasted.  
Becoming aware you were pushing for time, you knew you had to come to some kind of decision. Cowering in here wasn’t getting you anywhere. You had to go out and fight.  
Hiding wasn’t your game, anyway.  
Shaking with utter fear and horror at your stupid decision to walk the halls which were shared with killers, you nervously reached down to the ground for a mask which you had very nearly tod on before. Bending down, you scooped it up, turning it over to examine whose face you’d be bearing. Obviously it was Mangle’s face. Grimacing at the memories which entered your mind, you knew there wasn’t time to browse the selection of masks.  
Slinging it over your neck so it rested on your back, you took one final glance around the room. The torch certainly would’ve been handy, but it was in several pieces on the floor, no use to anyone. It couldn’t be helped – so you left quickly before anything could enter through the vents.  
Slipping silently out into the hallway, there was a notable and obvious change in atmosphere. It was be arduous to try and describe how the hall way felt; a mixture of emotions washed over you, and none of them were positive. Fear. Horror. Terror. Panic. Worry. All of them surrounded you, cloaking you in doubt and nervousness. Trying to shake them of was impossible.  
Creeping along the hallway, the music box continued its tune underneath your arm, oblivious to the danger which was looming ahead of you. Part of you wanted to throw it the floor, for its melody only added to the creepy atmosphere. The only think stopping you from doing so was that this music box was helping you keep the puppet at bay.  
Blocking out the tune best you could, you advanced along the hallway, tiptoeing discreetly and barely daring to breathe too loudly in case you alerted somebody. Sweat beaded on your forehead, though your body felt like a block of ice. Trembling as you walked along the corridor, you struggled to keep a tight grip of the music box. At one point, it almost slipped from your hand and fell to the floor with an ear-splitting crash, but you managed to hang on grimly.  
As you navigated your way around, you wondered if it was a good idea to try and find the stockroom again. What if an animatronic traced your steps, and followed you back to the room? Mental images flashed in your head of the unforeseen consequences of this action. Shuddering and attempting to remove this image, you tried to distract yourself.  
Funnily enough, the first person that came into your head was Jeremy. Surprised at this, you didn’t argue with your mind. Somehow, thinking of him kept you calm. His shy smile; dark brown hair, sweet little freckles; caring personality and… the feel of his hand protectively wrapped around yours.  
For some unknown reason, you were yearning for him to be beside you right now, to tell you it would be okay, to guide you through the night. Even though if he was here, he’d probably be freaking out.  
Remembering how was acting in the previous room, you curiously wondered if he was alright. Did he know you were alive? Or did he think you were dead? Subconsciously picking up the face, you made a promise to yourself; you wouldn’t die tonight. Sudden desperation to reassure Jeremy had taken over you.  
Moving further down the corridor, the only thought in your mind was that boy who you’d only known for a short while, yet… you’d experienced more emotions with him in the past two hours than you had in your whole life.  
Turning the corner at the end of the hallway, you were disappointed to find that there was nothing more than more corridors awaiting you. For some reason, you hoped that if you drifted about long enough you might come across the stock room.  
Not very likely, but it was the only bit of hope you could hold onto.  
After all, losing hope was the last thing that needed to happen right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the beginning, everyone is just realising how wrong everything is going and Jeremy is blaming himself for what happened to you. 
> 
> Author's Note
> 
> I apologise for this taking so long, but now everything is over and done with, so I have time to catch up with this story again. Thank you so much for being patient with me - and for all the Kudos. It really means a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Updates will continue to be monthly, unless otherwise said so! And I hope you all had a great Halloween!


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Eight

Back in the stockroom, despite the fact everyone was still deeply shell shocked, they had all grudgingly come to a rushed decision that grieving could wait till later. Sitting closely together, nobody spoke. Every now and then, someone would cough, or change position. Otherwise, both a heavy silence and atmosphere cloaking the room.  
Danger was now real. Someone was dead.  
Your ‘death’ had almost been a reality check for them all. Working in this place for so long had made them forget what they were actually dealing with. Chancing their life every night for six hours, in a rotting place which paid minimum wage wasn’t worth it. Of course, they had bills to pay like everyone does. But they also had college fees, families, wedding rings and other things which they desperately needed.  
One person was chained to this place, with no option for escape. But five others could leave at any time. What made them stay was the companionship of four other people that worked here. Hatred and love were two of many emotions shared among these five people. All so different, yet similar at the same. In a way, a small family had been made.  
And leaving family is one of the hardest things to do.  
Jeremy perhaps valued it all the most. Difficult as it would be to leave this job, he understood that he couldn’t stay here permanently; it would be impossible to do so, especially since this place was probably an inch away from closing down anyways.  
Especially since someone who he only knew for a few hours, yet felt close to, was now coating the walls and floors of the pizzeria with her blood.  
Lowering his head at the thought of this, he traced the floor with his fingers. Trying to keep himself from having another ‘fit’ was difficult. But he refused to crumble underneath the heavy weight of fear. Staying strong was the only thing he could do to help. Plus, Mike had only just about managed to convince him to stop tearing his hair from his head and stop hitting –  
Wait.  
Lifting his head, he cocked his head to one side, furrowing his eyebrows. Fritz noticed this and looked up at his friend, slightly worried. Was he really going to go downhill from here?  
Nervously, Fritz piped up. ‘Uh, Jeremy, are-‘  
‘Shush!’ Jeremy snapped so violently, everybody jumped around him. The boy’s voice echoed menacingly. Rarely did Jeremy ever snap at anyone, but when he did he meant business. Considering that he was not in the most stable state, nobody dared plead for him to calm down. Mike even edged away a few centimetres, wary of what he would do. This was out of character for him.  
Silence filled the room once more. Only the sound of Jeremy’s heart thumping in his ears could be heard to him. Concentrating fiercely, he was determined to make sure he had heard correctly. Straining his ears, the boy desperately listened out for what he had before.  
Moments later Jeremy spoke, his voice surprisingly strong – however, there was hidden tone to it. Almost like he was pleading with someone.  
‘Do any of you hear that?’ he demanded rather than asked. Cocking his head again, he stood up and strained his ears arduously. Surely he wasn’t hearing things? He was almost certain that he’d heard a familiar tune play. Soft and subtle, but still definitely there.  
‘Hear what?’ Fritz whispered, hardly daring to speak too loudly in case Jeremy snapped at him again.  
Jeremy was quiet for a few seconds. Then he addressed his uneasy friend.  
‘The… the music box? It’s playing…’ his voice deserted him when realisation hit him. The music box cannot wind itself up. It’s impossible. And the animatronics wouldn’t wind it up at all, for it would only lull one of their own to sleep. And when they were looking for security guards to kill, they needed everyone awake.  
Then what –  
Trembling, Jeremy shook his head. All at once, a grin a mile wide spread across his face. Subconsciously he began to breathe faster with excitement, hardly daring to believe it in case this was just a cruel world playing tricks on him.  
‘Y/n might’ve wound it up!’ he said, nearly shouting it out in his pure joy. A slight a laugh escaped from him. ‘Maybe… maybe she’s alive…’  
Riveted with utter hope and joy, Jeremy felt more at ease than he had for a very long time. Y/n wasn’t dead… she was very much alive, and walking these halls. Grinning uncontrollably, he felt himself calm instantly, feeling much more comforted to know that you were alive, that you were still a living person with a beating heart.  
Mike wasn’t so confident in what Jeremy was saying though. Knowing he had to explain to Jeremy that this was pretty impossible, he opened his mouth to speak. Then he closed it.  
Hesitation was stopping him. Mike wasn’t too sure how he was going to break this news to Jeremy. Not too long ago, Mike had picked up the tablet again, knowing he had to look at it sometime. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any blood coating the halls. Not to mention if she’d been found they surely would’ve heard screams echo down the hallway.  
However, neither had he seen y/n. Her status was unknown to him. She could’ve been killed instantly by an animatronic, and already incarcerated into one of them treacherous suits. Flickering inside him though, was also the hope that she was somehow alive and simply hiding out underneath a table until dawn.  
The chances of this happening were incredibly slim. Prepared to endure the shattering disappointment of discovering she had in fact died, was a consequence that came with surviving through until six in the morning. Mike was preparing himself, mentally and physically for what he may find.  
Jeremy wouldn’t be able to bear it. Finding her dead would probably be the last straw for him. Letting him raise his hopes is just as cruel as gently breaking it to him that he should expect the worst.  
Great effort was required to speak the words that were running through his mind. Sighing deeply, he quietly spoke directly to Jeremy.  
‘Jeremy… I… wouldn’t get your hopes up.’ He muttered guilty, eying the tablet and not the boy. ‘I very much want to see her alive as well. But, I haven’t seen her on this tablet. And, perhaps we haven’t heard…’ he gestured accordingly. ‘The… um… process of her… you know. But she could’ve been murdered instantly.’ His voice caught when he said these words, and felt disgusting for even suggesting the idea. Shivers ran through his spine as various mental images crossed his mind. Pushing them away quickly, he continued to speak. ‘I can’t hear anything, as well. It might just be something else, like Freddy’s tune.’  
‘I can’t hear anything, either.’ Scott added lifelessly. Deciding to give Mike a helping hand he carried on. ‘I know you’ve got this outstanding hearing, but… there’s no music playing.’  
Angrily, Jeremy clenched his fists. ‘I can hear it.’ He insisted angrily. ‘She’s not dead!’ he said, his volume increasing with anger. How can they even suggest these things?  
‘Easy,’ said Vincent, also standing up and holding out his hands in case Jeremy tried anything. ‘I know what you mean. But just calm down, and –‘  
Before the purple man could speak, Jeremy had shoved past him. Surprisingly strong and agile, Vincent barely had any time to react. Shocked at what he had done, he very nearly didn’t realise that Jeremy was headed straight for the door.  
Nimbly, he unlocked the door, and darted out within the blink of eye.  
He had left the stockroom. His footsteps echoed down the hall way as he ran, ran away from the safety of the stockroom.  
‘Jesus!’ Mike screamed, dropping the tablet. ‘Jeremy!’ he yelled, about to dive after the teenage boy. But strong hands grabbed onto him, stopping him in his tricks. Vincent had been quicker to react this time, and he’s managed to prevent Mike from following him. ‘Jeremy!’ Mike screamed helplessly.  
Hurriedly, Scott ran to the door and locked it shut again, without even looking out to see if Jeremy had left. Whilst he relocked the door, Mike was practically fighting Vincent off. Thankfully, the purple male was incredibly strong and managed to keep a grip onto Mike.  
‘There’s no point!’ Vincent snapped angrily. ‘He’s gone now. There’s nothing you can do about it.’  
‘I need to stop him,’ Mike hissed furiously. ‘I need to do something!’  
‘You can’t.’ Vincent said. He didn’t say it with dominance, but there was a certain aura to it which was enough to make you stop and listen. This was enough to bring Mike back to his senses. Struggling from him ceased.  
Mike knew he was right; there was no point giving himself a similar fate. Weakly, Mike stopped trying to pull away and sank to the floor. Tears sprung in his eyes, and he covered his face with his hands. Guilt cloaked him, washing over him like he was drowning in a sea built up of this emotion.  
‘What the hell is happening tonight?’ Mike whispered, still curled up on the floor, biting back tears.  
XXXX  
Aimlessly wandering around this pizzeria which had seemingly increased in size was not getting you anywhere any time fast. Having the chore of rewinding the music box up was not helping, since sometimes the tune would stop playing. Being so wrapped up in the moment, you would not notice. When you finally did, you had to stifle a scream of terror and quickly rewind it, whilst watching out for roaming animatronics.  
Constantly having to be on red alert was tiring. Knowing one single slip up could cost everything was not helping either.  
Drifting hopelessly up corridor after corridor, you weren’t really concentrating on your surroundings anymore. What was the point? Death was almost certain in this place, especially when one has been left so vulnerable. You had half a mind to just speed the process up, by finding an animatronic and willingly let yourself meet a fate which would surely happen.  
Thankfully, the other half and stronger part of your mind had common sense. Even though it was slowly draining away, lost into the darkness of the unlit halls.  
The stockroom wasn’t in sight. In fact, you had no idea where you actually where inside this hellhole. Passing countless party rooms and arcade rooms which all looked incredibly similar wasn’t helping you try and pinpoint your location.  
Playing cheerfully under your arm as you trudged on, the music box sang its happy tune. It appeared to become heavier which each step you took. At one point you considered dropping it and just putting up with the Marionette. Less of a chore than having to rewind it up every minute.  
‘I can’t do this much longer,’ you thought grimly, dragging yourself to the end of another hallway. ‘I just want to go home. I just want to see my mum and my sister again, to be honest. I wish I’d never taken this job. I wish-‘  
‘Hello.’  
Distracted from your thoughts at this voice, you whipped round hopefully. Was it six already? Had someone let themselves in? Surveying the hallway, you peered round earnestly – but could see nobody standing there. Confusion filled you, and you shook her head. Oh God, where you going mad?  
‘Hello.’ The voice repeated again. Listening a lot closer this time, you realised this voice belonged to… what sounded like a young child? Turning in full circles, you tried to find the place where this voice was coming from. Biting your lip anxiously, you weren’t sure whether to call out, reply or get the hell away from this voice.  
Pondering your choices for about ten seconds, you decided to call out. ‘Um… hello?’ you said nervously. Echoing down the hallway, your voice ran the length of the long narrow corridor. As your echoes died down, you waited patiently for a reply. Nothing was heard.  
‘Is anyone there?’ you said, feeling a little stupid now. When no voice spoke, you shrugged it off and turned around. Utter horror gripped you as you did so, and you couldn’t help but let out a short sharp scream.  
Right below you appeared to be what looked like… a small child? But this child wasn’t real. Clutching eagerly at a plastic balloon, it was wearing one of those propeller cap hats which were probably around before you were born. In his other ‘hand’ he proudly held a sign. But he was so low down, you couldn’t read what it said.  
Kneeling down from afar, your eyes squinted curiously in the dark, trying to make out what the sign said. Instead, the only thing you saw was what appeared to be the most frightening human-like doll you had ever seen in your life. Bright blue eyes stared directly at you, never blinking or moving. Smiling an inhumane smile, this doll looked like he was long past of the point of insanity. Rosy cheeks decorated either side of his face, and he wore a pinstriped shirt.  
Was this an animatronic?  
Leaping back in alarm, you leapt to your feet and scrambled back a few steps, in case this animatronic tried anything funny. To your surprise, he just stood there, not moving. An aura of creepiness suddenly filled the room, as this doll did nothing but stand and stare.  
‘Hello.’ He repeated again, his tone cheery. But much louder. Puzzled, you frowned. Unsure of whether he was trying to communicate with you, you nervously decided to just turn back and head the other way. It was probably just a prop.  
There was no way you were turning around. Nervously, you kept your eyes glued to the creature whilst you slowly backed away, like you would if you encountered a wild animal. But he didn’t appear to be moving – maybe he’d always been here?  
Deciding to brush it off you got to a distance where you felt safe enough to turn away from the doll and continue on your way of trying to find a way to get off of this endless corridor, and away from whatever that thing was.  
However, when you turned around you were met with two bright light’s which appeared to be staring straight into your soul. They were locked on you, gleaming brightly in the dim corridor. You didn’t move. You stayed interlocked with whoever this might be, frozen by fear into place. This looked far more intimidating than the doll which was standing behind you, its greetings and childish laughter still ringing out through the hallways.  
But then the laughter faded. The creature before you did not speak; but with a soft whir and buzz, it titled its head curiously as if it were studying you. Quickly, acting on impulse you grabbed the mask which was slung around your neck and rammed it over your head. Hopefully, the animatronic hadn’t had time to register you were human. Maybe it would move on, or even walk past and ignore your existence. That was the singular hope you were holding onto.  
It was shattered when the creature suddenly made a rash and violent movement towards you, causing you to leap backwards. You didn’t even realise it was running until you heard it’s metal feet clang against the floor and resound off the walls. The gears were grinding quicker than before now.  
For one moment, your body refused to respond and run. But somehow you managed to gather your senses. You forced yourself to run, adrenaline kicking in and practically allowing you to grow wings. You ran like you’d never run before. Heart thumping, mouth dry, blood pumping and legs taking great strides you charged blindly about the place, banging into walls and slipping on the floor. All the while the creature continued to run behind you, not faltering even once.  
Fast as you were running, you knew you wouldn’t be able to keep this up. Already your legs were growing weary and an aggravating stitch was forming in your left hip. Cursing you ignored it and decided to try and throw this animatronic off guard somehow.  
But how?  
Eventually you ended up at the start of a long, dark corridor with a room at the end. There were no other doors in this area. Looking around you saw that this looked to be a dead end. There was no way of turning around with this creature leaping after you, hungry for your life. Knowing this was probably the end of the line for you, you charged down this long corridor, heading for the only escape route which was given to you.

The animatronic was closing in on you. You could hear its feet pound violently against the ground and the snapping of its jaws and fangs echoing. Yet you pushed on.  
Within seconds you reached the room, tugged the door open and ran inside. You turned round to shut the door in the hopes of buying yourself several seconds – when the most peculiar thing happened.  
The animatronic stopped running and stopped directly outside of this door. As it neared, its shining eyes still gleamed brightly in the night, but you could see who was chasing you; it was a brown fox, a little like Mangle. But it had stopped chasing after you, even though you were stood right into front of it in clear view. It was like it couldn’t see you.  
Your breathing was heavy as you watched a confused animatronic appear to be searching for you. Your heart was banging and just in case, your hand was rested on the handle of the door in case you had to swing it shut. But you never needed to. The fox animatronic turned around and walked away quite calmly, its gears churning.  
As it walked away, you wondered why it had suddenly stopped chasing you. Deciding to wait until it had gone to do some investigating, you shut the door – and noticed there was a lock on the inside which, with a key dangling out of it on a piece of purple ribbon. The key seemed to fit the lock; so you took the key out and locked the door shut. Pocketing the key, you wondered why Mike hadn’t led you here, but to the room with probably the dodgiest door in the world.  
He must’ve had reasons. And perhaps with killer animatronics on the loose, this wasn’t the best thing to be thinking about.  
Shrugging it off, you turned around deciding to try and figure out the best plan of action. But as you turned, your eyes were met with something horrific. Something which you would never quite forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finished my exams for this year now, and I passed all of them! Yay! Sorry for not updating in a while, but I'm also working on several different other things as well. Thanks again for your patience, and all the Kudos and the comments! It's really appreciated that I'm getting feedback about this fanfiction. Anyway, the story should be completed sometime next year, perhaps in April. That's the plan, anyway. But, I hope you enjoy this - and it's probably not the best idea to leave a cliffhanger when I'm rubbish at updating - but keep the reader on their toes, am I right?
> 
> Amy


	10. Chapter Ten

The first thing that caught your eye, was that the room was incredibly dark. Darkness raced up the walls, intent on covering every single area in the room. Apart from one. Looking ahead of you, you saw that there was a small desk lying up ahead, with a small desk light flickering weakly, indicating that they bulb was going to go out any day now. Perhaps even any second. So very cautiously, you swallowed your fear and edged further up the room, curiosity taking over you as your footsteps resonated throughout the room, echoing and almost taunting you with each loud sound they made. 

 

Behind you, you were sure that you could hear the sound of animatronics still running rampage throughout the building, mechanics whirring, machines buzzing and metal clanking in the distance. But there was something you did not quite understand - why had Foxy stopped chasing you there? It was almost like he couldn't see the room, like it never existed to him. But you were not complaining. This room had a lock, and it was concealing you away from all the blood thirsty, aggressive animatronics which roamed the halls freely, hungry for the night guards which worked the place. In fact, why hadn't Mike led you here when you were all running away? Maybe he didn't know of the faulty lock on the door of the stockroom, or maybe it was closer - but here, it was like you never even were alive; the animatronics were oblivious to where you were.

 

Deciding to ask him about this, if you ever saw him again, for now you brushed the thoughts out your mind as you walked up quietly to the desk. For some reason, as you got closer and closer towards it, your footsteps slowed. Apprehension consumed you, along with a dark heavy feeling in your stomach. Why?

 

Your question was soon answered when you finally reached the desk. In the small light which was being emanated from the faint bulb, you could see that there were newspapers sprawled all over the desk, notes, paperwork which was unfinished... it was all lay in a heaped mess, as though someone had given up on reading through all of these things and had left in a hurry. Cautiously, your hand reached out and flicked through the paperwork listlessly. At the top, each piece of paper had a name written in the same, scribbled and rushed penmanship. And then, in the first box perhaps, rough writing which resembled chicken -scratch - but nothing else. They were left incomplete. 

 

Placing them back down, you noticed that there was a newspaper peeking out which was previously blocked from view by the mass of papers which littered the desk. Stacking them neatly, you gently placed the papers down, and then scooped up the crumpled, faded newspaper. It rustled as up scooped it up, making quite a lot of noise. But you weren't concentrating on that. There was one title at the top, screaming put at you in big bold print.

 

MURDER AT FAMILY RESTAURANT

 

Your heart stopped, your blood ran dry and you couldn't fully understand the words on the top of the paper. It was like it was written in a foreign language, or your brain was refusing to process the meaning of this paper. But it was obvious, wasn't it? The title told you all the tale. Five kids had been murdered here. You paused for a moment, a horrible thought entering your mind with a dark intention. Slowly, still clutching the paper, you turned around to face the door you had just entered, where the animatronics where lingering and roaming freely.

 

Five children. Five main animatronics running wild.

 

With quivering hands, you folded up the newspaper and slipped it into your pocket. Never had you been one that believed in ghost stories, tall tales of the undead coming back to haunt those who did them wrong; but this was all the proof you needed. You didn't want to read the small print at the bottom, telling you all the gory details. You wanted to wait to see if you lived the night before reading anything that could traumatize you further. So after putting it in your pocket, you leaned on the desk of the chair with trembling hands and lowered your head.

 

You weren't sure why you were crying.

 

* * * * * 

 

Jeremy had been wandering the building aimlessly, in a similar fashion as you had been doing not too long ago. The sound of the music box had died out once he had left the safety of the stockroom, leaving him to blunder around the pizzeria blindly, too afraid to call out in case animatronics were alerted of his presence. Instead, he tip toed in fear round the dark building, whimpering and sniffling, rubbing his arms in the attempt to reassure himself that everything was okay. He could no longer find the stockroom where Mike, Vincent, Fritz and Scott were, though he had been looking for it pretty soon after he realized he couldn't find you. Now, he was getting discouraged. The endless corridors led him up countless paths and most often into danger. Twice he'd had to hide from wandering animatronics which had ventured too near to him - and that was enough to make Jeremy, a sobbing, shaking wreck.

 

Nervously, he edged forward wandering in and out of party rooms looking round like a lost child looking for their parents. He wanted Mike. He wanted you to be back safely in the room, as you had been not an hour ago. He wanted to go home and never have to come back here again. He didn't want to die.

 

As the dark thought entered his head, more tears threatened to spill over his face, but bravely he managed to choke them back for now. Though he lifted his long sleeve and tried to clean himself up best he could, momentarily distracted from the darkness of the pizzeria.

 

A moment was all you needed.

 

He failed to notice the glowing blue eyes which were watching him intently in the corner. But he did hear the sick, harsh sound of an all too familiar lullaby filling up the corridor he was standing in. For a moment, he slowly lowered his hands from his face and looked around, slightly confused. Then his eye caught the demonic animatronic in the corner, looking at him hungrily and with a dark intention gleaming in his dead eyes.

 

Jeremy took one step back - then turned and ran down the corridor blindly, his heart thumping in his chest as he heard the animatronics feet slam against the floor, clanging metal echoing throughout the room as he ran for his life.

 

* * *

 

Back in the stockroom, an argument had finally exploded between Mike and Vincent. Currently, Vincent was being held back by Scott and Fritz from launching himself at Mike, and Mike was standing in the corner, hissing angrily at him. Scott had pleaded for Mike to stop, but right now Mike didn't give a damn about anything any more. Two people were dead, and everyone in this room was next on the list. He was going to spend his last night in a dingy pizzeria, and he was reaching the end of his cool, calm, collected tether. And Vincent had somehow been the one who managed to make Mike crack at long last. Which meant the argument had escalated fairly quickly.

 

'This is all your fault!' Mike snapped angrily as Vincent clawed at both Scott and Fritz blindly. 'If you hadn't let Jeremy go, then - -'

 

'I never let the fucking kid go!' Vincent roared, no longer caring that he was risking alerting the animatronics of where everyone was. 'He wasn't easy to hang onto, Mike! And I didn't see you doing anything!' he retorted angrily.

 

'This is the whole fucking vent issue again - -'

 

'Vincent, stop!' Scott pleaded, sensing his grip coming loose.

 

'I told you never to bring that up!'

 

'You were only interested in yourself, and you weren't watching the vent.' Mike paused, and folded his arms defiantly. 'Or so you say.' he growled, his eyes narrowing hatefully at the purple man who was fighting to pull himself out of Scott and Fritz's grasp. Once they'd let go of him, he'd throw himself at Mike and give him a lesson or two about blaming people for accidents. But for now, Mike continued, relying on the fact that Scott and Fritz would not let Vincent go. 'You let let the animatronic come in the room, and you never warned me about the mask. Funny though, how everyone else knew apart from me, who was watching the tablet. I bet you did it deliberately, didn't you? Couldn't wait to see me die - -'

 

'I told you, it was a fucking accident!' Vincent screamed, now fighting even more to peel off a frantic Scott and terrified Fritz. 'I'd never hurt anyone deliberately!'

 

'Vincent - -' Scott tried again, but was cut off.

 

'Oh, don't talk bullshit!' Mike said, his voice finally rising as well. Mike began to advance forward, and Fritz quickly rushed over to Mike, trying to hold him back as well. Thankfully, when he felt Fritz pull on his arms desperately, Mike had the common sense to stop walking towards Vincent. Who was still fighting Scott. 'You're a heartless bastard!'

 

'Oh yeah? Well I'll show you how heartless I can be when I'm fucking pummelling your dead body into the ground!' Vincent snarled, and with that he threw Scott off of him effortlessly and marched over to Mike, a hungry look in his eyes. He was tired. He was angry, annoyed and ever so slightly scared. The man was going to die tonight - might as well do something he should've done a long time ago, to shut up the angry salty man he'd been forced to work with.

 

He reached Mike, and his fist was raised, ready to bring it down on him with a heavy force. When there was a blur of red, the jangle of a dial and someone standing in front of him, with his arms out-stretched and panting.

 

'Stop!' they yelled. And since this person rarely lost their temper, it was enough to make everyone in the whole room come to a stand still. Vincent looked at Scott who was standing in front of him, blocking him from Mike. He saw how his shoulders were moving up and down like a boat at sea. He looked worn and terrified - but he still bravely jumped in between the two of them before something bad happened. Vincent lowered his hand slowly as he looked at Scott questionably.

 

'Please, don't fight!' Scott pleaded Vincent. His voice crackled, and his static buzzed as though he were about to start crying. Instead,he took a deep breath in, causing more static to crackle and he looked directly into the man's cold, white eyes. Calmly, he reached out and held Vincent's arms gently. Quietly, he murmured once more. 'Please don't fight.' and keeping his gaze on the purple man before him.

 

Vincent looked down at Scott, and he wanted to push him away, scream at him or tell him to move out of the way - but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Quietly, he looked back at the man which was looking at him so desperately and hopefully. He looked scared, intimidated and afraid - but beneath this expression, Vincent recognized something which he was not often shown. Was that underlying expression and suggestion of... believe? Hope? And if so, why on earth was Scott feeling these things?

 

Vincent looked down at Scott - and then backed away from him, turning his back to him angrily. He'd never been stopped before when he had the desire to hurt someone - so why now?

 

Mike looked uneasily at Vincent, along with Fritz. Scott was the only one who folded his arms somewhat happily and nodded his head at the back of the man proudly. Though this was unusual, weird and little out of character for him, Scott couldn't deny that this was progress. And maybe, hopefully, possibly a sign that Scott could finally ask this man a question he'd been longing to know all the time he knew him. But this could wait until the end of night. If they survived it.

 

Please let us all live, Scott thought to himself. 

 

Please.

 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Wiping away your tears, you felt a shiver course through your body as horrific mental images materialized in your mind. It caused you to feel sick to your stomach, as you imaged the disfigured and mangled bodies of children who's lives were stolen from them. Now, you didn't fear the animatronics as much, but you could start to empathise with them. They were restless souls who wanted to get revenge on the one who had done this to them, or at the very least make others suffer the same unfair fate they had met. They probably felt cheated. Angry. Probably scared. 

 

Swallowing nervously, you turned back around towards the door which you had entered. No animatronics appeared to realize that you were hiding out in here for some reason. Perhaps it would be safe to stay in here until it was safe. Until six had struck and you could then leave safely, and investigate the damage which may have been done to your co workers over night. You could only pray they were safe.

 

Cowardly as it seemed, it was no doubt the safest plan of action you could hope to take. You were just about to settle down and prepare yourself for a long night - when suddenly an ear piercing and heart wrenching scream echoed from the other side of the door. It sounded far away, but it was enough to make you leap to your feet and your heart stop. You could feel your blood curdle as this scream resonated throughout the building causing the hairs on the back of your neck to rise. There was only one possible person this scream, girly and truly terrified, could've come from. Before you could stop yourself, you had charged towards the door and had flung it open, abandoning the idea of remaining safe and hidden away from animatronics. Now, you didn't matter.

 

The only person that did was the person who had been screaming.

 

Jeremy.

 

* * *

 

Backing into a corner, Jeremy whimpered weakly as Freddy slowly walked up to him, metal clunking as he did so. Shivering, he pressed himself against the wall and watched fearfully as the bear cornered him, like a predator and prey. Flickering and fading, his blue light shone in the dark as his song revved up again. Broken and jumpy, it echoed gleefully throughout the building oblivious to Jeremy's fear and terror. Freddy stared at him, unmoving as the boy crouched down and placed his hands over his ears, closing his eyes as tears seeped down his face.

 

He wasn't ready to die. Weeping quietly, he listened as the song continued, muffled since he was shielding his ears. Shaking his head, he began to murmur to himself in the attempts to calm his panicked state. But there was nothing he could do. Beating against his chest, his heart beat thumped loudly, his blood ran cold and great quivers shook his body uncontrollably.

 

Fear was closing in on him. 

 

Patiently and fearfully, the young boy waited for Freddy to finish his lullaby of death. His song was about to reach it's end, when suddenly, his felt someone's presence near him along with a gust of air. Nervously his eyes shot open as he looked to his left, to see a running figure dash towards him. At first, he thought it was Foxy and he began to sob aloud - but then he noticed the footsteps were too quick and light to be Foxy's. Opening his eyes properly, he peered at the figure charging towards him. It looked so familiar.

 

Then it dawned on him. Smiling through his tears, he blinked hopefully and murmured. 'Y/n...?'

 

Hurriedly, you arrived by his side, yanked him up by his hand and began to tug him away from Freddy who was nearing the end of his song. Jeremy allowed himself to be tugged to his feet, and trying to recollect his senses, he ran with you as you guided him blindly through turning corridors, the sound of Freddy's metal feet clunking behind you as he began to track down the two of you. As you ran, Jeremy murmured in awe.

 

'I thought...' he whispered, his question mark quivering. 'I thought you were dead.' 

 

'I thought so too,' you replied as you pulled him along, your heart pounding. 'I thought you were dead as well, when I saw you. I followed your scream.' you explained in a rushed gabble as you and Jeremy charged blindly through the pizzeria. 'But I found you,' you said, turning round momentarily to smile at him. 'And I already feel so much safer.' you admitted a little bashfully.

 

Jeremy blushed, but offered a wry smile. 'I do as well.' he replied. Then he paused for a moment. 'Y/n, I - -'

 

'Through here!' you yelled, cutting him off and pulling him into a party room. It was a dark purple shade, and there were various circle tables with party hats knocked over on top of long draping cloths which touched the floors. Freddy's footsteps were getting louder as you burst through the doors of the party room. You hoped that Freddy would merely peek in this room, and not inspect it fully. So, with a wild and organized mantra, you hauled Jeremy to the nearest oval table with a cloth draped over it and lifted it up so he could crawl underneath. Following him, you dived underneath and you sat in a terrified huddle, instinctively clutching onto each other breathlessly. Freddy's footsteps loudened as he entered the room.

 

Jeremy whimpered, and his hand found yours and he clutched it. Curling your own fingers around his, you both waited, holding your breath.

 

Silence flooded into the room. Tense. Fearful. Thick.

 

Then his footsteps echoed as he walked closer towards you two, and he stopped directly outside of the table you were hiding underneath. His music began to play, broken and jagged. But it still rung out clearly through your ears as tears filled your eyes. Edging closer to Jeremy, you burrowed your head in his shoulder and shut your eyes, quivering as his death song rang out proudly. Jeremy trembled himself, and squeezed your hand even tighter. But then he mumbled. 'Y/n?' he said, anxiously.

 

Pulling away from his shoulder and looking up, you gazed at him fondly. 'Yes?' you asked.

 

Jeremy stayed silent for a moment. But then suddenly, his head moved closer towards yours and he looked into your eyes. 'I... I just wanted to say, it was great meeting you.' he said quietly, and he wrapped an arm around you, pulling you closer. 'I was hoping I could really get to know you,' he continued shyly as Freddy's theme was coming to an end. 

 

Softly, you smiled at him. 'I was hoping I could get to know you too.' you replied, your hand tightening around his.

 

Bravely, he tried to smile at you. But then his smile quivered and dropped. Urgently, he whispered to you. 'I'm so scared.'

 

'I am as well.' you admitted. 

 

The tune came to an end.

 

Silence flooded the room for the final time, filling you with fear. Your heart was pounding against your chest as you waited for the most painful death to finally greet you with it's cold heavy arms. Jeremy held his breath and waited for the exact same thing. But then, filling the area, a bell buzzed loudly making you both jump. Confused, you looked at each other wondering what had happened. Then you heard the sound of Freddy's feet thumping the floor - but this time, they were getting distant. Anxiously, you poked your head out of the cloth just in time to see Freddy leaving the party room and turning left. Curiously, you scrambled out from underneath the table. Still clutching his hand, Jeremy had no choice but to follow.

 

Both of you exited the party room and looked around, wondering what was going on. When suddenly, your eyes fell upon a window which was boarded up. Through the cracks and crevices a soft orange light shone through, displaying dust particles which shot in and out of the beams silently.

 

Jeremy smiled and then shook his head in disbelief. With a weak and faded voice, he turned to you and mumbled the words you thought you'd never hear.

 

'6AM.'

 


End file.
